Before I Depart

There are places I want you to go should I die:            
I know we believe            
In the soul that God gave us,    
and in the spiritual realm        
But I also believe in the power of Place,          
And the secrets it holds,            
in the past that stays,          
sometimes without our knowledge or consent --
 For it may be stolen from us, and placed in a Place            
long after you and I are gone            
           
           
There are places on this earth            
That carry my soul in its dirt            
Do you know of the Places I speak?            
Some with which you want to take with you,            
And some which you'd burn into oblivion.            
Those Places are where you must go            
Because I can't tell you everything.            
In eighty more years,            
you still won't grasp            
 the entirety of this person you chose           
to spend your life with  
but go to these Places of my Soul,            
And take the parts of me I left behind.            
           
There are some Places too elusive            
To capture, but they can capture you.            
And once it steals you away,            
It will never let you go,            
And it will haunt            
you            
As it has haunted            
me --            
caged            
in the bars of my own welding.        
You not knowing            
where I left ...            
I have to give you that,            
 the hidden spirit,            
so that there is somewhere            
for you to find me            
in case you lose your way            
Or I'm not here            
To take in Time            
with you.            
           
Here is the map of my soul            
Chart it with my heartstrings            
Connecting one to the next            
Until there is nothing but bright color,
and the touchable texture            
           
Of decaying mountains,            
           
writhing rotting trees,            
           
the rain-washed cobblestone and blind clocktowers,            
           
the coastal docks with empty shops,            
           
the ships embarked on seas unmarked--            
           
burgundy trams broken yet unwielding,            
             
marigold beachgrass in autumn,            
           
Sonoma sunsets and Napa wine,            
           
Parisian gardens and polluted Venetian rivers,            
           
the woman on the rock-cliffs,            
           
and the sounds of languages unknown to thy ears,            
   
The Magyar night music  ...            
           
I buried you there, in that Place.            
For sights and sounds can too            
Make space in the mind,            
And thus a Place always.            
           
if I share this with you            
You too can behold
This moment and realize that            
Even before I knew you            
Or our souls shared breath            
When I beheld the most beautiful places            
of this sacred earth            
I gave it my Soul            
And thus, gave it you            
And you to it, to them,            
The Places and Spaces            
Of the Eternal Mortal --