Mourning Is Broken

It seems my time has come to rage As friendship’s rent at last comes due, The life it’s brought through many years Finds final balance now in tears, As friends of ambidextrous age Begin to flail against the night, Leave me to mourn loss of their light, And deal with pain’s last residue. If not for my belief in soul If not for lost friend’s sacred joy How could I bear to share this pain? But one day too I won’t remain To offer strength or to console The friends I’m loathe to leave behind, The vines with whom I’ve intertwined, Peace bringers to my inner boy. With friend’s death morning comes too soon As if the sun has bypassed grief And calls us back to what is real When death is all we know and feel. Our life like phases of the moon Is sometimes light and sometimes dark Though we may never hit the mark Might Christ spell mourning’s true relief? Brian Johnston March 14, 2016