DEATH
A life has come to its end
The journey has finished at last
The shadow of grief and sorrow
Hang lowly over the house
The body lies so still
In deaths dark circle borne
And silence bars the path
From prying ears and eyes
Of mourners and people who scorn
The undertaker comes
To measure for the cask
Then goes away to fetch the box
Which takes the body to the grave
Relatives and friends arrive
To pay their last respects
To a friend or a kin once known
And children stand bewildered
As they see strong parents cry
Or they blend their tears with others
For a daddy, mummy, sister or brother
Who from their life has past
Into death dark cold vale
The dreaded day then dawns
The hearse pulls up outside
The coffin is put within
And wreaths are laid round about
Kindred friends and onlookers
Gather at the gate
In sorrow, sympathy of plain curiosity
The processions away
For the departed last slow drive
To where burial rites are read
And the coffin is put to its rest
Then the body returns to dust
For death's dark hour is now real