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      December 10, 2020While Watching a Video of the Dalai LamaPerie Longo

      for my husband

      Everything I see or hear is about him.
      This morning, the Dalai Lama
      says there is so much suffering
      in the world he can’t do much.
      With his monks he sifts colored sand
      into an intricate design for peace,
      then sweeps it away. They collect
      the remains in a small jar, sprinkle a little
      on top of their heads for tranquility.
      While I held my husband in my hands
      as ash, like finest sand,
      all the hard edges of us disappeared
      with the smoke. I rubbed him on my skin
      then we flew him into light.
      Such tragedy! how it takes death
      to put everything in its right place,
      how it takes death to perfect a life.

      from #17 - Summer 2002

      Perie Longo

      “I had a recurrent dream when I was a very young child that when two armies of people met on the battlefield I stood between them and said, ‘No one can fight until they write a poem about their feelings.’ This probably came from my father, who always wrote poems to capture family celebrations and conflicts. Today I stand between life and death after the ‘crossing over’ of my husband, heeding my own words.”