eulogy for eustace, pt 2

[choux]

i released your crickets
beside the house.
you were wrapped in a
paper towel, growing wet
from your cold stomach.

the wind was reaching
right in my sweater.
the sun was lost.
i walked to the edge
of the dock,
but it was low tide.

i laid you down anyway.
as your little body
rested in the basin
waiting for the river,

snow began to fall.

remember me in your next life.