Goodbye, Edith Piaf

You came down in late afternoon, bearing coffee and bags of sweets
That before your knock, I would have found unbearable

Edith Piaf played through the speakers like through a tin can

Predictable for a rainy day but because the first drop remained
Suspended
Waiting

We agreed: Perfection

In your face I saw the quietest of grief.
Soft and waiting.
But, also, joy.

The kind that drives a stake
Through hearts
And a line of demarcation
Through the map of my soul.
Through the faith to which I cling, like stupidity

Through the cold, cold dark of knowing.