Cleaning

We dismantled your life
With deft words
And callous hands
28 years taken apart
In one afternoon
We judged you
Not on what you took with you
But on what you left behind
A serious flaw

For sometimes
What we write
Is what we cannot carry
In our heart
And that which we take with us
To the depths of the earth
Is the most precious of all
The thing we didn't wish to empty
On to paper

Cold

I have tried to put myself in your shoes
That shock of unexpected cold
The dread that must have shook you
When understanding suddenly took hold

I still can hardly feel it's real
And when I lie awake at night
I have to remember her that day
So still in the muted morning light

A New Struggle

I struggled
Wanting to express my grief
Not wanting that other place
To become an obsession
With it
Not wanting people
To be confronted
By my new struggle
Whenever they visited
Where I deposit
My thoughts

So after putting
Only what I thought they could stomach
There
I decided to tease it out
Separate it
Make a dumping ground
For the swirling thoughts
That constantly march
Like a hungry army
Through the back of my mind
Consuming my subconscious

Why

They needed to know the reason why
They took you away just to try
But is there ever a reason
That could really justify

Photographs and anatomy slides
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
All we have left, all that remains
An empty room, full of us

We all search for the silver lining
To an unexpected goodbye
Muttering all the standard lines
Avoid the dirty word: why.