THE DAY AFTER YOU DIED

A poem I wrote after the funeral of a friend.

THE DAY AFTER YOU DIED

For Terry


Dress suits, silk ties and polished shoes
At least two hundred in the pews
They all came when they heard the news
To mourn the friend I did not want to lose
They wrote their names and stepped inside
Shook some hands and then they cried
These are just a few of the things
That happened the day after you died


There were pictures of you with your family
There was even one there of you and me
They brought back happy memories
And I’m sure, my friend, you would be well pleased
To see the many who assembled there
They could have gathered anywhere
Yet they came to say one last goodbye
To you - the day after you died


I didn’t know what to say or do
I hugged your wife and your children, too
Then I stood alone for a moment or two
And said my own farewell to you
I thought of you up in heaven above
As I clutched the card that read “In Memory Of”
But my memories of you are locked inside
Where they’ll remain – until the day after I have died



4/2005