Obituary (2003?)

Obituary

I smile when strangers die.
Knowing as I flip the newspaper to the back page,
It will be me, on the by & by.

I can’t remember when , I think it was last July,
when it was I imagined your smiling face gracing that page,
but I still smiled when strangers die.

I could not find a way to cry,
standing, you were still so alive at that stage
because I know it will be me, on the by & by.

I thought, I could not bring myself to watch you lie
lying so cold and still, the hand of fate brought me rage.
It’s so much easier when strangers die.
And now after a graceful death, your soul will fly
straight to the creator you loved, your body in an oak cage.
We still wished you could have waited for the by & by.

And I am left dumfounded, looking at the sky and asking, “Why?”
The meaning of this existence I still cannot gauge,
Even when we know it’s going to be us, on the by & by,
it’s so much easier when strangers die.