// EDITOR'S NOTE: is this poem 669, not 699?

Tireless traveler
it's only a short while
since you strode on ahead
crossed the horizon
moving as always
toward the light
no longer held back
by a mere body
you've headed for the sun
as it sets westward
off the coast of Maui
and even as your body fades
your shadow lengthens
opaque at times but glimmering
with subtle light
it reaches us who are still landbound
while your voice
like fabled Orpheus
carries across
gathering beasts and humans
in its spell

Steve Berman
March 7, 2022
Grants Pass OR