as an ideal friend
i should have asked you
not to go gentle into your good night,
un-ideal,
i thought of goodness
in a gentle, resonant voice
when i first heard your grammar

here, you taught me goodness
in composure,
in wise handshake,
allowing us a closure
gently,
to begin again
with what you left behind:

only lines,
seemingly 
commonplace,
but
down a line
should
man snake apple
consider,
is goodness enough to fill the
space between city trees.