Closing for Monika – Poem by Katherine Chantal
When a birth is happening
All of the universe
Coalesces to attend
So it is with someone’s death
Time opens the doorway
As it so wonts
To allow
Passage of leaving
As we wait upon,
As we attend
The slipping away of a body
The soul prepares
For union
Once again
Being with Monika
Watching her these past
Months, weeks, days
Knowing these moments
Were coming, closer
Was just an idea
As every need, day by day
Fades into oblivion
Could it really be we had a
Conversation just yesterday
It was about the artist she was
A photographer
We laughed and shared
Parts of who she was
In our time together
She accepted all
Allowing us the privilege
Of attending her
Today, Monika looks like
One of the beautiful native women
She so lovingly lived with long ago
She brought many home with her
Witnessed by the extraordinary
Photographs of their regal faces
I gaze upon her profile these
Last hours and see her
As one of them
Sitting proudly, gazing inward
As her vision of this world
Recedes
Her last days
The wisdom is beyond words
Beyond comprehending
Simply living my transformation
While she lives in her dying
The mystery she is living
But may never reveal
One I might only know
When I am in her place
I am awed and humbled
As tears roll down my face
If I cast my net
Made of light
What gathers within
Becomes, not mine
