What are ashes to us?
How much of the being is still in there?
We keep them in urns on the hearth or in shoeboxes under the bed
We visit them, talk to them, cry near them
We wear them in necklaces
Sprinkle them in yards
Run our fingers through them
What are we hoping to get?
A familiar feeling for the loved one whom we lost?
A repressed memory?
A message from wherever they are?
Is it better to keep them contained or to set them free?
Maybe this depends on the one who died
Maybe some souls need a container to feel safe
In a warm room
Surrounded by soothing voices
But maybe some souls feel better if they are spread back into the world
Finally and completely untethered from their bodies
Separated into pieces and parts
Riding in the wind
Landing on flowers and sand and dirt
In creeks, on mountains, and through valleys
But if you let them go-
Do you lose any of your connective power?
Does the complete and utter absence for their earthbound shell heal you or hurt you more?
Like grains of sand being pulled out by the tide
Never to be seen again
But you know it happened
Because you were there
Praying their disappearance does not erase their existence from your mind’s eye
