To the Bardo

I dreamed I finally got through to C on the phone
he was whispering
I couldn't make out the words

he had been in the hospital
and then in a home
M was sick too

You know how in dreams you are everyone:
awake too you are everyone:
I am listening          breathing your ashy breath

Old Chinese poet:
fire:
to see the way

-- Jean Valentine
Door in the Mountain: New & Collected Poems