For Sue, 2/2004

All that lonely winter                                                                                                                     

I listened to Beethoven’s somber flute                                                                                    

circling my grief.

I’m so sorry you are gone,                                                                                                            

and me without saying goodbye.

Every winter since

I listen to that spiraling song,

never landing,                                                                                                                               

like a bird,  

looking for a place to call home.

—Mary Elyn Bahlert, 2004