this is the way of it:
our death.
death mirrors life;
the casket frames the person dead.
we’ll miss you.
we loved to look upon your face.
peek at your wild hair.
that head was party
to a great intelligence.
now you are gone old friend.
now we must involve ourselves-
smile into a coffin.
they made you grip
a spray of flowers,
petals touched by dew,
fading by the hour,
as we are touched,
gazing down at you:
by means of this eulogy,
we speak to say nothing.
we love you.