Alaska Humming Bird (for Nicholas Hughes)

Why did you take your own life?
Like your mother, in your 47th year.
Now a a 47 year old cargo boat.
you had your fathers face. a tall wintery gent.
and from your mother a body of stitches you learned not to lick
I hear it is in your molecules, and in those molecules there are genes
Thick and gloopy.
Invisible in air.
But unavoidable.
In Alaska
Silent and untamed
Was it completely silent?
The cry of a starling or the fuzzy humming bird
The song of a crying lark maybe.
Was it an owl or another creature they have there?
Or some unknown power station. The sound of the soaring smoke. state governed.
You were through with life . But no one was through with you.
You are now stretched and solid, like a broken rubber band.
And to your mother you are returning
from the gulf of time.