Remember to leave some matches behind

REMEMBER TO LEAVE SOME MATCHES BEHIND (a villanelle for September)

Remember to leave some matches behind
When your fire has burned to ember;
Someone will find them and mind.

If you lifted high a glass of wine
When came a time to remember,
Remember to leave some matches behind.

This eternal journey you travel blind
Bears no debris but dark November;
Someone will find them and mind.

As this eternal bend must end or wind,
Regardless the cold of December,
Remember to leave some matches behind

I say this to one who is one of a kind
Yet of our old race full member --
Someone will find them and mind.

And if you grow no grain to grind
By harvest time September,
Someone will find them and mind;
Remember to leave some matches behind.