Be (for Jeremy) by Gretchen Hill

Rumi says 
          be a lantern 
          or a lifeboat 
          or a ladder

but I think 
maybe     also 
we should 
          be a nightlight

whispering comfort 
into the darkness

          be the moon 
whose energy 
surges and ebbs

who hides behind clouds      humming 
its haunting melody

then thrusts itself 
full and naked 
into the borderless sky

             be the fireflies 
festooning the tips 
of the long grass

             be the stars 
the drinking gourd 
guiding the grief-stricken 
                                              and abused

and yes      of course      be the ladder 
to the escape hatch 
be the waiting lifeboat      bobbing in the current

be the lantern
                                  lighting our way home

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