Forgotten Souls

I took a walk, a morning fine
The sky so blue, the sun so high
And took a shortcut past a church
A graveyard: rest for those who die

I stopped and saw the rows of stones
Some lopsided, some upbeat
And thought of all the lives lived
Of those souls buried, 'neath my feet

I crouch down by a gravestone near
And pick out letters through the moss
"Here lies our dearest and beloved,
Edith Beatrice Lavoss"

"Born 1st April 1920,
Died 3rd May 1928,
Our only daughter fair and pure
Taken so cruelly by fate"

Tears begin to pluck my eyes
As I think of this poor girl's short life
Died before her adulthood
Before she could be someone's wife

The wicked hand played to her parents
To have to bury their own child
I hope for Edith, the end wasn't hard
It took her gently, took her mild

And as my tears begin to dry
I think of all those buried here
Lives forgotten; for some no-one
Will stop to think or shed a tear.

All rights reserved. Nom 28th July 2012.