Ladybugs

Coincidence
or not, it’s a fact
that seven ladybugs
lit on my window
as I spoke tonight
of seven friends
who have passed on.

I let them crawl
around a while
before shooing them out
into potential doom
in the hard frost
that’s predicted for tonight.

It doesn’t matter
what signs you’ve been sent
or how many laws you follow
as you pursue the meaning
of this life;

you have to put the messengers
out into the cold
and get on with living
as if grief
were something
you can keep at a safe
and practical distance.