Requiem

You slipped out of life into the silence
one long afternoon of the cries of birds
and broken water in the rounded garden
waiting for the call that dinner was ready,
the table set
and the narrow beds with their blankets folded back
prepared for sleep.
You slipped out of the noisy corridor
into perpetual dawn
with the first birds stirring over the broken back fence
with footsteps moving over the frost
in the vegetable garden.

Someone had come by with a late birthday present
and we searched the house from the laundry to the front door
trying to find you
that was when we realised
you had slipped out of life all by yourself
into silence
and we left the present
with a bread roll and a glass of water
by the backdoor
knowing you were somewhere near
and would come back for them
if the time seemed right.