when you are freed from the shackles of your flesh

your ashes will erupt from the flaming womb

with jazz hands and vaudeville fervor

not common or gray but 

dazzling with iridescent pinks and blues to

match the irrepressible sparkle of your eyes 

that everyone knows so well

your remains will reach for the sky 

as your thoughts so often did

your songs of delight will echo through the ages

scissor stepping and side leaping joyously 

along the most willfully wayward clouds
spreading silver linings on them like greasepaint

when i squint into the sun just right

i’ll see your smile beaming rainbow reflections

across the untold horizons of our imagination

you were always a fierce and radiant survivor

you did not pass all those milestone years

traversing the ravages of time and 

various personal perils

to wither away in a dark box sealed away from view

darling you shine for all time

you are the light and the breath of rarified air

that gives life to future generations

rise and shine beautiful

you will not be buried