LIFTED CURSES
Thank you for the Halloween
when anything could happen.
When spirits freed themselves to dance,
cavorting in the shadows.
A time for lifted curses
and exorcising demons
chains of guilt dragged
one last time
then left behind forever.
Thank you for the dawn
which we never had before;
for salty waves and birdsong
and sand-dollars buried deep.
A day of open air
this first -
this last morning
light and sand against your skin
falling through my fingers.
I smelled your pillow
searching for the night
after you drove away.
And walked in your footsteps
on the beach
following our past along the moving world.
By dusk our steps
were smoothed away
by the rising tide
and your scent had faded from the linen.