Jake

I spread ash-grey newspapers
all over the kitchen floor,
three layers thick, because
he can’t get up and down stairs
anymore.

Sixteen years ago, I spread ash-grey newspapers
all over the kitchen floor,
three layers thick, because
he was still learning.

Six years ago, I spread, not newspapers,
but ash-grey just the same,
the remains of a life on the wind, because
he was finally free.