~for Paul          

                                      how did it feel  

                                  brother 

             when they wrenched you from

            was it like a forbidden         secret we shared

                     hearing you had driven

                          down a public flight of

                                             inside the champagne bubble

                                     we seized twenty years ago

                                 can love cushion the shock             

                                              of our last parting 

                          how long do memories like that          last where you are

            do you know your leave-taking          was a simple lyric

  and memories of that last day             still summon awe

    I’ve been praying           for your return

There is nothing you need                 set right        little brother

        come let me feast my

                  come let me say a

                            before the vessel in your                bursts once again

                                             and they shine the white light

                                        and the light is your swan song

                                                               come                        before you ghost us again

Joanne Godley is a physician, writer, poet, and an MFA student in poetry at Pacific University. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in the Bellevue Literary Review, Mantis, Light, FIYAH, Pratik, Account, among others. She was twice nominated for a Pushcart prize. Her second chapbook, Doc.X, is forthcoming by Black Sunflowers Press.