Lillith's Passing

What is it called? When thousands of bats Come pouring out the mouth of a cave For the black gold of sunset? Like that The late autumn leaves tear from their branches In a spooky warm gale Misplaced this Halloween night Buries the party of cars parked on the street For the last three days of vigil Tending to 100-year-old Lillith Next door Her bedroom window 30 feet from me Where I stand in short sleeves Amazingly This time of year I too wait for news As I watch the tree tops crumble And the puzzle pieces of starry sky Connect their arms and fill the gaps Creamy river Milky Way Maybe they are holding Lillith’s hands Asking her questions about the beyond And knowing Lillith She’s ignoring them all or mumbling Oh yes yes Peering outdoors through her curtains Listening to my wind chimes Ding Like a harbored sailboat’s mast Lashed by its pulleys and hoists Nothing left of Lillith’s sail Of course it would be a wind like this On a magical night like this That carries her away in its arms Over the roofs and pumpkin streets To the new October stars.