i’ve been thinking a lot
about your hand in mine
the way that our fingers
and palms intertwine
but i think about death
about loss, about worth
i admit that i fear
to return to the earth
where our bodies dissolve
into roots of a tree
and will grow into trunk
then limb, then leaf
but i've heard from a bird
that death will reverse
and your heart will beat hard
like it did at your birth
so hold on for dear life
with your hand in mine
if death makes us let go
it is only for time
© Mike Mortensen
