THE REMEMBERING

I have dreamed about my dying,
slowly and
very slowly at first,
turning myself with grace
and ceremony,
learning only then
how to open the hand
so that all held there 
falls like a scattering of sapphires
to the ground.

As my skin and my blood
discover they no longer hold 
responsibility
my eyes will close and I will see
faces I know,
hear sounds which I almost
remember, like music
that played while I slept.

		Lucille Murphy