Saw him crying,
a friend's father died today,
what can anyone say?
--the emptiness of trying

in that, this passage
of advancing age
we all are departing,
puzzled by the parting

filled with fears,
and pent-up tears
trying to make sense,
of a tangled past-tense

memories stab
the inner core like
clawing a scab
scratched bloody,
grief
an unwanted buddy
the only relief

trying to erase
skeletons off the list,
but see their face
no matter how we resist
recollections persist
crying, from the guts,
openly crying.

Limericist 2007