Summer ends, winged 
in the severe blue sky; wrapped 
in the last moments of yesterday 
when her phone call reached his answering machine. 

Her voice, resigned to death, trembled
as she struggled to express her undying love.
The dream of growing old together shatters 
while the light she put into his eyes recedes 
to shadow their empty home. 

Through the terror 
at the end of years, her message 
will prove to be a gift in the turn
of sudden loss, startled from his sleep, 
her voice will rise from the ash, soft and warm, 
to touch him once again.

(c) Susan Fridkin