in loving memory of my mother

Too fast, I say:
This day
has come too soon,
I’m not prepared.

‘Too slow,’ you say,
‘I’m ready, eager to go;
Straining my eyes
toward the prize
I’ve yearned and hungered for
life long.’

But too fast, I say;
Give me another day
for all the little things
I will miss most
and don’t want to relinquish
just yet.

‘Still, too slow,’ you say,
‘Don’t you know
I’m so weary of these days,
Seeking the ways
I long to take
To those who wait:
Our heavenly father and your earthly one
And many beloved faces
I’ve long missed.’

Still – too fast, I say;
How can we wrap up in such little space
what we’ve been trying a lifetime
to say
properly…

‘Just slow –
Slow down, child, let the words go;
I already know
your love for me;
Expressed and shared and shown
as mine for you,
so many ways through many days
in all those little things –
that’s why we cling
to them.

But now,
The power of everlasting arms
has come
to carry me
and comfort you;
And though the pain
be slow to fade,
memories remain:
a burning flame
of hope and faith;
A legacy of love.’

And in this moment now
somehow
I know:
Goodbye is neither fast nor slow;
It is an open doorway,
a passing, 
through the line
into eternity from time:
Until I see you here again
at the threshold.