Today is the anniversary of my mother's death

This is a poem I wrote for her. It's called 'Everywhere'.

One year ago today, my mother’s spirit left her body.

I knew this anniversary was creeping up, but it still caught me off guard. She was an extraordinary woman, and it is still hard to believe she is gone.

This is a poem I wrote to share at her celebration of life, and it felt right to share it today.

I miss her so much, but I know that if she is everywhere, that means she is also with me.

---

Everywhere

The night you left this world,
the winds blew wildly,
making the trees dance
in the small hours of the morning.

There was a powerful gust
in that private moment, when
your breath left your body,
becoming one with the wind.

When I miss you,
this is where I look:
to the breeze -
tenderly brushing my cheek,
or tickling my bare ankles;
pushing me fiercely,
or playfully whirling along.

It reminds me that
where I see nothing,
there is in fact something.
The air is alive with
stardust and scent,
sound waves of music,
and unending light.
The only true nothingness
lies in the black hole of despair.
But that is not where you live.

When we no longer need our bodies,
some people like to stay in one place,
rooted in sacred ground;
others like to go everywhere,
flying with the lightness of ash.

You always returned home,
but you had a traveller's heart.

I look up at the feathered clouds,
their edges gilt with golden light,
and I wonder: have you already
danced among them?
Have you visited every country?
Or plunged into the ocean's mysterious depths?
Have you set your course for the far reaches
of some distant galaxy?
Or is that is your next adventure?

Perhaps it is enough for now to simply
walk alongside me;
reminding me, as many times as needed,
that as you wished,
you are everywhere.

-A.C. Smith

Image: Created via ChatGPT with the following prompt: create an image of a tree dancing in a wild wind in the hours just before dawn