Seven generations Roman,
and one hundred percent male.

That voice, like thunder and wind over Lazio,
and a smile that could melt your kneecaps.

Surging with life, laughing, singing,
telling stories from his naughty boyhood,
here on the cobbled streets that he loved so well.

Fiercely loyal, a truer friend could never be found.

When he sang 'Vivrò!' smacking his old guitar just once,
and then roaring into song,
he did live forever, right there and then.

We live on, caro Bambù, transfused
by your vibrant, unforgettable memory.

Way before people in human form,
we existed as air and light.

Lavender lights in the northern regions
called to each other, and we responded freely.

Sound sounded differently then, reaching
inside our airy souls, overarching temporal existence.

Dancing through infinite space, leaping beyond knowing,
we became pure unfettered feeling.

Come across the threshold of light, riding on your smile.
All that was then, is still our ancient home.

Full, flat, flowing
this old bend
in the river
gives peace.

Would living
beside it
bring more
peace?

Or would
a hunger
to see more
end that?

By some unintentional thievery,
we had a high desert day today,
way out here on the prairie.

Low wind, cooling, and
astonishingly dry.

A blue, deep as high-altitude
cobalt. 
Well, almost.

The woman, still no taller
than a child. The brother,
still kind, still stubborn.

Thinking, sometimes out loud,
the memories coming to each
are sometimes the same ones.

A family working together
in the woods they loved.

This younger brother, so
small, smiling to himself
as he carried kindling.

And the quiet brother,
there too, deep thoughts
widening his hazel eyes.

Maple leaves, still green,
and whirligig seed pods,
pile up now in these
brown paper bags.

First-born to you,
into a world of light and music,
myriad words, and all their possibilities.

Birth of another kind for you now.

The sphere of light that is your heart
attenuating beyond all fear,
merging into your limitless beginnings.

The secret love you have for the universe
has taught us,
will always teach us.

We will never be able to reach a state of total
comprehension of all that happened
on that day when our contemporary world shifted
in mystifying and unfathomably terrible ways.

Perhaps the only hope we have for the evolution of our humanity
is to humbly remember and accept
that almost every society in the world
has committed unspeakable atrocities against others.

This has been worst in the nations that have achieved
and been proud of
the greatest technological advancement.

The time has come to open our eyes and our hearts
to one another.

The time is here.

The time is now.