Epitaph

Flesh bordered lace
with sorrow's face,
I sense your presence
above:

Cheeks flushed,
a fever of grace and love
from where you stand;
and the sparse salt
of your eyes,
mingled in water-brushed begonias
from your hand
with gentle sighs.

Beneath velvet leaves
and strings of grass woven
in beauty,
I sink slowly;
dissolving satin, bone, and shard,
the frame of those
who last viewed me
since worldly disregard.

I plead you to say:
Why do you stray
from your path
to read this epitaph?

Did your eyes befall
a stone unknown,
etched in meaning 
you long to call
your own?

"In passing, dear traveler, know this:
I seep to secure
I crack to create
I leak to procure future's fate everlasting
through solemn earthen kiss."

Be assured, I know your mind.

The purpose you seek
in the vital world
will be found,
a smile at last unfurled
in final resting ground;

Both peaceful 
and resigned.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2006

Poem

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