Autumn Afterlife

Slightly fictionalized poem for a facebook long distance friend of mine, a woman who died at the age of 39 in mid September, 2012- written in mid September, 2012 

Late on a gray afternoon
Was when your life ended too 
Soon slipping beyond
Anything we could say
On a gray September day

What comes after the
Aftermath? Red leaves and
Orange blown down an
Autumn lane we are
Just the same here only for awhile

You've just gone
As I watch the leaves falling
Down the street in the gray
Afternoon and ponder 
Your afterlife near and far

Your afterlife near is that
We remember you and
Smile that you were here
Even just for awhile summer
Sunshine fading in September

Always we remember, this
Is your afterlife near but
What of your afterlife
Far? All we can say
Is you don't feel faraway

You've just moved on
To your autumn afterlife
Beyond those still alive
Knowing the truth of life
The truth they say the dead find

You are never out of mind
Summer sunshine fades in
September toward the darkness
Your life was summer fading
To the aftermath, after life

Autumn afterlife
Our lives after you
Your life after this
You're gone, we move on
To our autumn after life