In The Graveyard

After our deaths - when we're laid to rest

...no-one in the graveyard will care.

No-one will care that we thought ourselves 'the big cheese' of something - there's no power to wield in a graveyard.

No-one will care about the grandeur of our tombs

the family mausoleums in which we lay - leave that to the living!

No-one will care about the words carved onto our headstones - as touching as they are!

No-one will care about fresh flowers

regularly placed on a tidied grave.

No-one will care that you've chosen to leave no mark

to have your ashes scattered...

anonymously

feeding the deep lush grass of the crematorium gardens.

No-one in the graveyard will care!

Death comes to us all 

Be we black, white yellow or brown.

Who will we be in death?

No-one in the graveyard will care!

But...

who we were in life is more important.

Think about it!

Graveyard

A calm 

inevitablity

and silence

hang over this graveyard 

slow and peaceful 

the well tended grass

mown

beautifully edged

lush under foot

like the finest carpet

with underlay to match

and

in neat rows 

full with graves

headstones

carved

with stories to tell

some ornate

some simple

and to the rear

also in manicured rows

but empty this time 

equally well tended

next to the heap of clippings

but unused 

space

space in the graveyard

for you 

or for me 

if we wish

if we feel

this is the place

we'd like to be

forever more

when our days here...

   ...end

Click here to hear me read this piece

Graveyard

Went to graveyard to find a poem. 

The 21st century passes nearby here so,

no peace for its occupants.

Doves call out to each other

over the drone of a council mower.

The bin,

full with dead flowers awaiting their final resting place.

Shadows stretch from tilting headstones.

A sparrow jumps from stone to stone,

unaware of their significance. 

A squirrel makes a dash for it,

as,

briefly,

the noise abates.

The End of an Endless Road

If I thought the road before me was endless,

why would I care to travel it?

What is each step worth on an endless road?

Nothing!

If you treat life as if it were an endless road,

what is the point of even one more step?

It's pointless!

We must learn to enjoy the ride!

Look out of the window at the deer in the fields as we pass,

smile at the people we meet along the way,

stop and say 'hullo',

take time out to enjoy,

time with loved ones,

time with love.

...for, 

one day,

one day soon,

one day soon we will all end up in a graveyard, 

a graveyard like this one.

This one I sit in now!

One like any other,

one where squirrels chase the shadows to the end of yet another day,

another day that isn't yours.

Where bells chime,

but quiet reigns,

and gravestones stand,

until they can stand no more,

just a slightly unloved graveyard.

A graveyard at the end of an endless road,

(Haiku)

Respectfully walk
the graveyard's rich, soft grass. Rest
in peace everyone!