dust to dust
ashes to ashes
dust to dust
who knew life
came so quickly
and death so easily
and it is so funny
and fickle
and scary
how they leave
out back doors
and say no goodbyes
yet we hold on too tight
and we don’t have it in us
to turn off their light.
-
you wonder
what they’re seeing
if they see anything at all
and it’s worrisome to some
how curious you’ve become
about where they’ve gone
about what they’re doing
about how you long to
feel their breath
see their chest
rise and fall
the downfall of us all
these sweet memories of midnight
when they were the only one
you’d call.
-
calling out their name
in your heart
and after dark
if only they’d pick up
just one last “what’s up”
just one more run through
that old drive-thru
on douglas boulevard
but how can you eat
when all the particles
turn to dust?
these days it seems death
so easily becomes us
ashes scattered on playgrounds
making soft mounds
on hard ground
creating mountains of shadows
all over my hometown.
-
there will be weddings
and birthdays
and children
they’ll happen without them
yet we’ll still feel them there
leave a setting at the table
pour one out
say a prayer
no one says it
but we sense it
how it’s so unfair
how we’re all cutting cake
and they’re no longer there.
-
maybe it brings us closer,
that sorrow and despair
or maybe this is how
we’ll always meet
with ashes at our feet
and dust in the air
it makes us more human
each time we show up
to our high school reunion
to where we grew up
dresses and suits
torn to shreds
this isn’t how we pictured it
but it is what it is
and at least for forever
we’ll never forget.
