Wherefore Art Thou?

Wherefore art thou now? When clouds descended from the brow Of hills remembered, fields where plough Churned the earth to take the seed. Growing like the wheat, That rose up high to face defeat, Cut down and ground that mouths may eat And on the flour feed. Falling like the snow, Sent swirling through the streets below, As human traffic ceased to flow And halted bowed and still. Creeping through the throng, The choir sang a silent song, The funeral cars progressed along To take you up the hill. I remember times Of childhood days and nonsense rhymes, When we committed harmless crimes Upon the sleeping town. Fires lit to burn Makeshift swings and no concern Life to live and love to learn When sun shone brightly down. Wherefore art thou now? Laid rest beneath the bough Of oak that will endow The marble with its shade. Is this all that remains Of blood that flowed in living veins, Of summer dreams through autumn rains Of all that life had made? "For Paul Vaughn Evans - In Memory, My Friend."