…my whole self
saying and singing what it knew…

—Denise Levertov from “Variations on a Theme By Rilke”

•••

At the end
may my whole self rise

saying and singing
what it knew

after a life in which
I mostly did not know

or did not think I knew
that I could have

lifted out of myself
at any time

or no time
beginning anew

flush with abundance
with the last breath

so full of song
so full of light