A Toast, a Canticle, a Living Requiem

Here's a toast to the ones you leave behind. To the ones who time carries you past, spending a while with comrades until the rivers drag you away. To the ones who sail their own courses through life, a far, far cry from your own. And yet, that cry is always heard, in the end, for companionship ever beckons. The lanterns on their prows shine a light for you, always; whenever they're near their fellow in need. To the ones you never fail and who never fail you; to the ones whose separation marks the end of an era. Yes; a toast to the ones you leave behind.