Brigitte Goetze

Kind-hearted Awareness was her new Buddhist name.
A name, as splendid as her first evening gown,
white silk embroidered with silver threads,
which, though store-bought, seemed tailor-made.

But baptism, prayer, or even the sacrifice
of a yard of her gut didn’t stop the cancer.
Light is always stronger than night,
but it can be smothered by dark matter.

It didn’t matter whom we implored—
Jesus, Buddha; the universe
left us just this empty dress,
glowing with her radiance.