Surrender

To have heat, to remember warmth.
To have someone and to have no one.

To listen and know when to stop listening.
To have conversation unforced.

To eat a meal you cook. To accept
the meal offered. To know what it is

to feel alone when you are not alone.
To drag the dead to the front of the house

in the balmy 60 degree weather. To mourn
the loss and have the strength to continue

the work. To let go the losses so irrelevant
and embrace the new. To up the ante

15 pennies to make sure you can't lose
if you make the choice. To surrender

the heart to the dark places it has yearned
to go but not been free to do so. To open

the heart to the filtered light. To lay
the body down at night in complete

and utter exhaustion and to not expect
anything more than perhaps waking up.