Conversation with Death

I bowed my head and wiped the tears from my face; more immediately followed. I whispered an unheard good-bye to another person that I love, and slowly walked away from the flowers, the mahogany urn, and those gathered around. As I walked out of the chapel, I raised my eyes and saw the innumerable markers of others who had died. I mourned for their loved ones, those who had also shed tears that welled up from the bottom of their souls. And I grieved for myself - for the loss of all those whom I have loved. And I remember...

In the echoes of my mind
I hear their voices
their laughter
their cries
their silence

I see their faces before me
their eyes, full of life
and love
and pain
and courage

I feel the warmth...
from their touches
their tears
their embraces
in their hearts

"Oh, death, oh, death
the anger, the outrage,
the sorrow, the emptiness,
the confusion, the anguish.

Why, oh why must you take so many?"
"It is a part of the cycle of life."
"Their pain is gone."
"Don't think about their deaths, think about their lives."
"Remember the good, remember their love."
"Let the sorrow and emptiness go..."

"Oh, death, you speak with cliches, but perhaps that's all you have to offer...
to comfort and soothe an aching spirit left with only memories..."

...then I see a child toddling toward his mother and the memories are gently nudged away. He falls and pushes himself back up, laughing. In the sparkle of his eyes and the grin on his face, I see the delightedness and the joy of life. The air reverberates with his happiness. Peace washes over my spirit. And at least for the moment, I am released from the grip of sorrow and loss...

...and I remember

© Barbara J Warner