light a candle
or
(maybe there is no candle)
look out the window
to the light of sun, moon, or stars
or
(maybe there is no window)
imagine light
its memory

hold within yourself
all things
the friend who died
the child who is dying
there is space for these
and space, too
for the flight of a hawk
across a snow-swallowed sky

sit with it all
loss, pain, healing, joy
you do not need
to know where to begin

just

begin

knowing that in beginnings
as in endings
there is power
the dust of stars
ghosts
of the beginnings of all things

remember those
who have passed beyond the veil
imagine those
whose names you will never know
they stand at your shoulder
named and nameless
they breathe through you