At this end of your life
you should take the cups 
you are offered 
and pour a little out of each
for all your much regretted
lost relationships, all of
your ruptured lifelong
conversations, whether
they died untended or
were killed on purpose
as mercy killing or for spite,
whether they ended
with no explanation 
or were left to die quite
consciously; however they failed,

take the cups they’ve left you
and spill a little for what 
those who vanished offered you
in your shared time. Tomorrow
your cup with be lifted  
to someone else’s lips,
after all, and you would want
to be honored for whatever
you brought to the tables,
bars, and counters
you once shared with them.
As you slip from memory
you’ll long to savor
one last taste
of how it was when
you were together.