After the End

<p>My daughter died suddenly in 2023 at age fifty-three of a brain hemorrhage. I scattered some of her ashes in Lassen Volcanic National Park a place I had backpacked into and birded for forty years-my daughter had been there with me-that burned in 2021. Since my daughter's death I have felt at times that too much of what I loved was gone. The psychologists now say the last stage of grief is not acceptance but meaning. I'm still working on it. </p><p><br> </p><p>tires checked</p><p>coolers tents flashlights</p><p>check check check</p><p>and the box of ashes . . .</p><p>her last camping trip</p><p><br> </p><p>in the photo</p><p>chiaroscuro trees and shadows</p><p>trying to imagine</p><p>shades of green</p><p>before the fire</p>