Free Verse

I went to the funeral of a child yesterday
Not someone I knew well, but someone’s child
Someone’s hope and dreams were being buried
Under the dead winter grass and the bright sunshine
Seemed to mock a father’s grief

I went to the funeral of a man yesterday
Not long a man, but a husband, a father
And their future was being laid to rest
As the wedding ring, still untarnished
Twinkled on a slender, shaking hand

I went to the funeral of a nephew yesterday
A grandson, a brother, a friend
Hoping that all turmoil and selfishness
Could be put aside for one brilliant, cold
Afternoon of grief

I went to the funeral and I learned, yesterday
That there is only tragedy in the death
Of a young man, that people don’t become better
Or worse through grief and that I want to die
Before my child.



03/24/2011 dawn