Why Is Life That Way

© Ben Burton 6/18/2016 It's difficult to feel good When you see A long lost loved one The meeting predicated On the death of another You both loved But, at least one of you Barely saw at all Once those early years were gone So you hug And you grieve And you talk With an air of discomfiture Merely making conversation While wondering how it happened For excuses are just that If you seize the time and own it With the will to make it happen One more good, back home reunion But... the kids had things to do Then, their kids had more to do Though there is no right or wrong In decisions of the heart Always intended to Somehow life got in the way And the time had moved along Was life bursting? Bustling With imperatives Far more important Than spending time Some of that precious, little time With those who knew you well Back then Inside your photo album Is the proof of all that once was Those memories still linger Fondly, sometimes, tearfully Of your dear relatives Those who share your blood But as you've gotten older It's like you barely know The one behind the face Who was a centerpiece In your long-ago life For whom you still feel love But it's hard to love a stranger As deeply as your family Yet...that is who they are Your béloved family Whom you see occasionally In that photo album But infrequently face-to-face Until another death In your dying family But you swear to stay in touch And you mean it And they mean it Then, time melts even more And yet another dies The funeral reunites Repetition draped in heartache For what you could have done But did not do But, hey! Neither did they So you shake your head and say "Why is life that way?" Yet and still You've got tomorrow But so little time to waste For soon comes that reunion Where the late, béloved centerpiece Is you