Legacies

His lover died
emaciated
AIDS survivor
no more
the light stayed on
in that upper window
for nine nights
lone beacon of grief
born bravely
mute fear of
morbid thoughts
I brought
him baking futile effort
to ease his load
and we sat
in the pristine kitchen
his hands lying on the
spotless pine
pale wilted flowers until
I took them to
hold while he talked
of twenty shared years
how all his tears were used
while Lady Day sang
lullabies
from the next room

Three years on
his lover's legacy
bloomed bringing
with it weight loss
and serial 'flu
his sister came as nurse
"to watch me die"
but life refused
to let him go for
five long years
he left me his
Billie Holiday albums.