Death's Ballad

Gnarled fingers folded in silent stillness

Never again to interlock with another’s hand

Enchanting eyes closed in blatant finality

Never again to twinkle with adventure

Bare, cold feet, hidden behind the casket cover

Never again to lead the way for grandchildren

Painted lips, sealed in the stagnant state of death

Never again to sing lullabies to frightened babes

Rigid arms lying in their bent positions

Never again to hold their sons and daughter

Slim shoulders spread in reluctant release

Never again to carry a little one

Legs straightened at arthritic knees

Never again to bounce a grinning granddaughter

Lungs hidden within a stiff shell

Never again to breathe the air of spring

And a heart, whose steady rhythm has ceased

Never again to ache for the love that it had lost.