For Marius;Last Words Unheard

sitting on the last steps
up into your home
clutching ripe bananas
against my bony chest

look Marius one last bunch
all yellow and ripe
I whispered, but was unheeded
you were fast asleep

under the white canopy
they made you ready
for your journey
where I couldn't be

the dogs sniffed at them
yellow ripe bananas and snuffed
disdainfully trotting away
from a four year old child

I still remember Marius
just five, with high pitch giggles
I see again his withered left leg
watch his last travel down the road

Wishing for last words
profoundly meaningful and poignant
a speech to overwhelm orators
Not about sharing bananas

maybe that said it all
a last offering, a farewell
now I only hear Marius hunting
with baying dogs.