In Summer When Trees

How can you die in summer when trees
are heavy in their green & insects
circle paths of yellow-purples laid by you
& swallows spin a blue bowl above the garden
loved by you & a passing rain puts drummers
in your dreams & a song-thrush calls all
colours before you

how can this be the last of your summers
when open windows of your house catch
the lazy rich air & long days stretch
like oceans between far shores of night
maybe you are showing us
maybe we are learning what it means
that death after all isn’t leaving the world
but returning into the heart of it

Jon Alex Miller lives in London with his husband and dog. He works with big businesses on climate change and social justice issues. He has poems published in Acumen, Acropolis, Atrium, Magma, the Haiku Quarterly and the Hyacinth Review.