epitaph 

he is the 5-

fingered glove in the field

the ghost of his father

the lost

child of Lucca

3 times removed.

he is the erstwhile

deliverer of wine

the blood of God ––

and of water

the blood of Man.

he is the wafer of the Eucharist

the body of Christ

dissolved upon his early

tongue.

he is that he is

in that he is living

until he is forgotten

from ash to ash

to ash itself undone

and so, so long he will be

he was.