This is how the body goes: the gurney

sliding in the ambulance like a drawer.

The flashing red on our faces like heartbeats.

The children concentrated in my arms. Each

grit of salt on the driveway, staccatoed.

The thunder reverb in my chest, resounding.

The stars apparent, their light sustaining,

as if all the dampers of the night were opening,

your body a note the ambulance was holding

long after it pulled away, its siren receding

until we couldn’t hear it anymore.