Bearer of Forgotten Light

Stanza 1
At dusk I walk a trail edged with copper leaves,
my palms pressed soft against my ribs-
cupping the soggy scatter of autumn grief.
Each breath holds the hush of absence,
a slow drizzle settling into my bones.

Stanza 2
I press a frayed plaid bear to my chest;
its button eyes gleam with a pale, secret pulse.
Within a hollowed seam rests a small urn,
cradled on golden moss-a tiny cosmos
where my brother's first heartbeat still turns
among star-dust fragments of memory.

Stanza 3
Grief coils around me like damp wool,
its fibers crawling beneath my skin.
Each pulse a stone sinking deeper,
yet somewhere beneath the weight
I sense the tremor of dew on unfurling buds-
hope's insistence stirring at the root of morning.

Stanza 4
Along twilight's margin I whisper his name,
each footstep an imprint of undying promise.
I carry him here, an ember breathing
against the sweep of shadow-
a faint glow guiding me toward the dawn.