JAM ON ALAN'S BIRTHDAY

Today I ate the last Santa Rosa Plum Jam
made by Alan and Marie. He has gone on
to the next thing but I hold embers for him —
which are all about me —
sparked by his brief sojourn to plum trees reaching for sky.

Marie was there to share the journey until
she wasn’t. “We gather plums and share them with others,
as long as the tree bears fruit and our bodies
can climb,” I imagine them saying.
No one imagines that means forever.

But in a way of seeing, it does.

1/15/2021