September 28, 2006

 

Continuity

 

we are stunned by its sudden arrival

at one moment, plans are laid for tomorrow

at the next, tomorrow never comes

we are astounded by the end

shocked by so great a change

so common a joy

so abruptly

too vast an emptiness

that of infinite value has gone

its worthless husk our sole handle

by which to grasp the enormity of what has happened

 

what will happen

 

On hearing on 680 News a recording

of an ambush in the Middle East. One

moment he was alive and calmly asking

for help, the next moment he wasn’t.

 

I think that one of the reasons why we

are so stunned by another's death, apart

from the immense loss we have suffered,

is our knowledge that our own death is

inevitable.