Celestial Road

A meditation on loss, impermanence, and what lies beyond.

What will become of David,
the small boy without a mom?

Or Mary,
the old woman without a husband?

Or Egor,
the man who lost his sister?

On the road to Moscow,
we've lost so many.

The list makes lines
to the moon and back.

Soon we will be lost,
like David's mom,
the old woman's husband,
Egor's sister.

We'll be lost and found
on the celestial road.

Perhaps this road
is the rest stop,

a brief stop
in human form,

then away again we go,

like bees seeking nectar.

Each life gives us
something sweet

and a sting too.

Then we are off again,
flying amidst the stars.

Or maybe
we just cease.

That is all.

A poem by Pemba Umoja