Requiem
I wrote this decades ago. Must have been my first heartache *lol*
Hush my colleagues --
We are all gathered here
For a burial.
Let us not rekindle
Old antipathies and grate
On each other's nerves
Through talk of kindness --
And loneliness -- in the face
Of mourning. Rather, let us
Recollect how beautiful
She was -- how gay -- and
Revel in the generosity
With which she leapt her bounds
To be with us. And to be alone --
Afterwards -- for she has loved so.
Shall we -- as she has asked --
Look beyond here and now
To see the logic -- nay! -- the bounty
Of life's mean little ironies?
O, that she has loved so much,
And for her beloved to love
Another! -- Thus, to dumbfound
A drunk with the bittersweet
Taste of stale wine
Is plaintive, indeed.
Come -- let us begin
By laughing, and continue
The merrymaking throughout
Her funeral, for that
Is how she would have wanted
To be remembered -- happy,
And in solitude, dignified.
We are all gathered here
For a burial.
Let us not rekindle
Old antipathies and grate
On each other's nerves
Through talk of kindness --
And loneliness -- in the face
Of mourning. Rather, let us
Recollect how beautiful
She was -- how gay -- and
Revel in the generosity
With which she leapt her bounds
To be with us. And to be alone --
Afterwards -- for she has loved so.
Shall we -- as she has asked --
Look beyond here and now
To see the logic -- nay! -- the bounty
Of life's mean little ironies?
O, that she has loved so much,
And for her beloved to love
Another! -- Thus, to dumbfound
A drunk with the bittersweet
Taste of stale wine
Is plaintive, indeed.
Come -- let us begin
By laughing, and continue
The merrymaking throughout
Her funeral, for that
Is how she would have wanted
To be remembered -- happy,
And in solitude, dignified.
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
