A slight sort of meeting

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There you were
At dawn and dusk
Playing music with the fire
Braiding shadows
With hibiscus petals
And tossing them into the pyre

There you were
When the moon dissolved
Into a cup of lemon tea
There you stood
With the strength of a child
Both seen-unseen to me

There you carved out
New, wise words
From dusty dirt-trail stones
There you gave me
A lexicon for all those
Beautiful, empty homes

Into the light, into the joy,
You went in, not returning,
But with distorted time and twisted tune
The pyre still stands burning.

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