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Mortal and condemned…

Black veiled shapes of mourning

Spirits cloaked by glooming reverence

Sonorous tolls the funeral bell

Heads bowed follow in procession

Eyes bedimmed with tears

Lament for the loss endured

Stillness…

As the birds have ceased their song

And heavy rain begins to pour

A futile prayer floats like mist

To rest eternally

The rope gives way

Slow, but steady

Into the cold unknown

To receive as had been given…

Under sorrow’s unrelenting spell thou shalt wander,

till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken:

for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.

All paths converge

In final knowing:

Into quiet eternity

All shall venture…

Dead drops the wilted wreath

To earth’s sodden swansong

And the eerie dirge

Of the shovels‘ scrape

Mortal and condemned

left behind…

As the dreaded day unfolds

When mourners drift

Like scattered ash

And silver tears dry

By callous winds

When once more,

The weight is lifted

Unbearable,

but fleeting…

When mourners drift

Like scattered ash

And silver tears dry

By callous winds

When once more,

The weight is lifted

We are forlorn,

Left to rest eternally…

As meager mortals

We pass from mirthless grounds

Into waters of forgetfulness

Days march on

And seasons shift

In total indifference…