Sorrow filled every crevice

To watch the face that shone with life-

A face that laughed and eyes that crinkled,

Spoke words that cut like rapiers

In sparkling wit

And showered love with abandon-

Now stilled in the grip of death!

Amid the flowers and religious scapula,

The body lay lifeless,

All energy drained and all wit rescinded,

The eyes, for ever, closed.

She did not open her eyes

To comment drily, insouciant as always,

At the show of grief, some real and others not so.

A lively brain is stilled for ever!

I, for one, cannot help

But shed the tears that flowed ceaselessly

At my loss and everyone else’s  too.

It was my dear misery

To have lost all that love

And precious care

That I received,

Without stint,

Throughout my life!