Eulogy for Cello

The first step is to breathe
Because everything comes back
To inhaling

Smooth wood
Pressed just beneath the breasts
Abrasive against the bone
So that the sensations may travel
Directly into your lungs

Exhale the music

Resounding within
The cavern to which we hold
Unremembered memories
And feelings never felt
So very closely

Inhale the impossible

And how your fingers
Will numb so sweetly
Languidly dancing
Across the tangled web
That somehow catches morning

Exhale the dreaming

And let it all echo
Pounding against the walls
To the measure of heart beats
Almost painful to accept
Yet that is all there is to believe

And then bend forward
To inhale
The art painted
On silence