They say you left too soon.
But I feel your aliveness,
Your warm presence, your expansiveness,
Your radiant face keeps smiling at me,
lifting me up, rooting for me,
loving me unconditionally.
I try hard to smile back.
You know … one day … I will.
They say you left too soon.
But you are vibrantly alive in me
and everyone and everything you touched.
I feel you every time I pick up a pencil to draw, a brush to paint,
every time my fingers touch the keys of my keyboard,
every time my spirit wants to tap into
a silenced yearning,
or a frightened talent.
As I attempt this poem..
it’s clumsy, I know..
but I know you would love it,
and you would say,
“Oh, Nannochka, I love how you start,”
then quote a line,
pause,
and say,
“I particularly love this,”
and quote another
and go on and on.
For me,
you live in the fragrance of soil,
trees, flowers, candles, and essential oils.
Of freshly baked breads and cakes,
and simmering pots of soup.
You live in beads and stones,
pine cones and rocks.
In the sound of water..
shower, rain, stream,
waves of the ocean,
crunch of snow.
In every musical piece,
every trance-like dance,
every doll of the Matryoshka,
every poem, every artwork,
every handwritten note.
In flower petals and leaves
pressed into paper,
in magazine cuttings
that give context to our lives,
in the handmade notebooks
drenched in your love.
You live in the memory of forests,
mountains and rivers,
mountain lions and rattlesnakes,
dogs, cats, horses, and elephants.
You live in the air we breathe,
in the resilience we feel,
the courage we muster.
In how fiercely we protect our freedoms,
in how faithfully we explore the vast expanses of our inner lives,
in how generously we nurture and care for ourselves,
and gently honour our longings.
In our humility,
our generosity,
our acts of kindness,
and in our loves.
You live, Keekar,
forever friend of my heart.
This poem is a tribute to my dear friend Kyra Kopestonsky, who passed away from breast cancer on Tuesday, 23 December 2025.
—
Sanjyot Pia Walawalkar is a Professor at Skyline College in California and faculty member of the Critical Global Citizenship (CGCE) project which seeks to engage students with social and ecological issues through a pluralistic and global lens. Her research interests include critical information literacy, metaliteracy, and critical global citizenship education.
