As I lie asleep a chill covers me as someone threw open a window
I open my eyes a slit hearing music I know but never heard before
I am surrounded by fog
I make my way to the door through a mist that leaves droplets on my naked body
Delicate threads like spider webs cling to me
So strange yet I feel a floating peacefulness
When I open the door, I see a starry night
Bright yellow dots with elongated lines radiating outward
As if the brightest yellow was flick from a paint brush onto an indigo canvas
A joy I’ve never felt overcomes me and I want to go to the heavenly stage
And dance
The threads come together, and tendrils wrap my not arms and legs
I hear the voice of my kindred spirit who has gone before speaking soft and warm
Not yet not yet, not yet, not yet like a fading last note

Mommy held my hands above my head
While my puggy legs waddled their first steps
Daddy held my hand while walking me home from school
And walking me through life
Friends grabbed my hands helping me up off the playing field
My Wife accepted my hands in hers wrapping them in a soothing warmth
I still feel
Now the finished is rubbed from the wooden cane handle that supports me
But soon it will stand in a corner
The empty husk of my body will return to the earth and my spirit will
Travel alone

Puppies and kittens will meet
With each other in innocent curiosity
Naturally finding communal warmth in cuddles

Tiger cubs and bear cubs will share
Zoomies and Lies in the cool
Tall grass together

They are one in the mystery of life
Humans sit pompously on a throne
Self-proclaim leaders clutching
The scepter of intelligence
Held tight in hands with thumbs

We have no higher or lower place in life
But a place alongside our sisters and brothers
of all creations
When we fill the spot where we fit
Perhaps the puzzle will be clearer