No Longer May Alarm

The dead flowers in the vase have their own charm They have their form, their shape, their wistfulness What is dead no longer does us harm Thus being dead is no cause for alarm There is no need to suffer loneliness The dead flowers in the vase have their own charm As they age, they look like a dead palm The sort we got in church had comeliness What is dead no longer does us harm The secret of long life is loving calm And looking at the world with gratefulness The dead flowers in the vase have wistful charms Meditation on dead flowers is balm We fear no longer our own death’s fullness What is dead no longer does us harm Waste not time in hateful wilfulness We sing with love our own dawn choruses The dead flowers in the vase have certain charms What is dead no longer may alarm