Laura Lee's Funeral
Laura Lee's Funeral
1.
We are traveling on the infinite ship
From our forgotten harbor
To our unknown port of call
Beneath the impassive stars
Upon the endless, everchanging sea
Towards a sun that may be
Rising from,
Or sinking to,
The Deeps.
It is up to us
To discover which;
The answer lies, I think,
In the voyage.
2.
It is, of course,
A day like any other.
Save that today another traveler
Has gone below the decks
And we know we shall not see her
Walk the ship amongst us
'Til who can say when.
We all go belowdecks eventually;
Some quietly
Some with great fanfare
But we all go
And it is left to those still above
Who knew them
To celebrate, or rue
Their time among us
'Til our time to follow comes.
3.
This one we celebrate.
Oh, how we do.
For she was one of the Good Companions,
Those who make the sailing easier
Come calm, come gale.
The Kind word
The Attentive ear
The Helpful hand
That soothes the seas beneath
And stills the storms above,
For which the ones she traveled with
Lived all the better.
4.
We hold our ceremonies
We say our words
When the ones we know
Go below
Into the Hold,
There to await us.
We weep our tears
We dream our dreams
We weave our memories
Among the milling throngs abovedeck.
Until one day or night
Something calls us,
And down we go.
And the infinite ship
Keeps sailing on
Towards that rising? setting? sun.
5.
I think that sometime,
When the Hold is finally filled,
We shall make our Port of Call.
We shall drop anchor,
And disembark;
And when we do,
The Good will see a sunrise
The Bad will see a sunset
Above that Undiscovered Country
From whose bourne no traveler returns.
And on that day,
Laura Lee and all the Good Companions
She graced along the way
Will stand and shine together
On that Undiscovered shore,
In the perfect,
Incomprehensible
Sunrise.
Copyright ©
William Masonis
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