After all was said and done,
we carried you to our clearing, so you could leave.
They placed you on the upslope of a hill
to face the morning sun and your perfect tree.
That August day was bright, humid and
you must have been hot, but would never have complained
lying there fully dressed in your finest clothes.
Clothes, you would have happily sweat and danced in.
Upon the last blown note, he said you were no longer here.
This was the hour I first disbelieved, because then
we abandoned you, in that meadow, and walked away.
We returned, one by one, to the forest and lunch.
I was not hungry, could not eat and look back
over my empty shoulder, still.