Painful Silence

The sorrowful faces of the family and guests, starkly reflected the pain as they gathered and young children with legs dangling from hard metal chairs, stared blankly at the casket, Soldiers with solemn faces stood nearby, making last minute checks of their uniforms in preparation and the wind rustled canopy over the freshly dug grave, was slightly distracting. Sporadic sobbing erupted from the grieving crowd as the dutiful military detail took their position and somber words are almost always silenced with the last note of taps.