The Body of Life

 

RIP Paul

 

Don’t hold on to the cord too long

As the casket drops back to the ground

Listen and hear the blackbird’s song

As loved ones whisper all around.

 

Holding on can pull you down,

Time to let go with laughs and tears.

One life so brief now clearly shown

Should soothe all worries, quell your fears.

 

Suits new pressed in Sunday best

The mourners gather on gravel drive

A loved one, come to lay to rest,

At peace now, struggling when alive.

 

Pain of life, the battles faced

The daily loss of hope and mind

The platforms where our lives are based,

Remembered now as good and kind.

 

The grave is measured, six by three

To fit the body’s empty shell.

But how to grade a life led free

By what we did, what words can tell.

 

So less our actions, not our deeds,

But who we are, the love we gave

The thoughtfulness of others’ needs

Kindness shown, the lives we save.

 

 

 

 

Unspoken tales between the words,

Silent feelings now at rest

Outside the sounds of cars and birds

Life goes on, still doing its best.

 

The cords now lie deep in the soil,

Photos fade to sepia grey

Thoughts ingrained in all our soul,

Mark the words we cannot say.

 

For life’s true measure’s clear to see,

As we gather around our grave,

Not what we do, but who we be

The life we lost, the love we gave.

 

And as your hands are full of earth

To drop down with thoughts so sad

Just think of me as one of worth

Not great, not best, but a good lad.

 

M x