…a mass for the souls of the dead
This is a requiem
a mass for the souls of the dead
an elegy, a song of lament
a haunting refrain
rising upon the wind
in this composition
there is only one melodic line
a harrowing tune
a monody
an ode by a single actor
in a Greek tragedy
an oratory
into the wind, into the void
a eulogy, words of praise
an epicedium, a threnody
words with no meaning
but for the context of misery
a song of sorrow, for our loss
for our bereavement
this is a wake, a memorial
a celebration of love
gone but not forgotten
lost to us
I am Jeremiah
a dismal prophet
a denouncer of the times
reading my list of woes
articulating
my doleful complaint
this is a lament
a passionate expression of grief
a verse of sorrow
of mourning
a coronach, a dirge
a funeral song, black with sighs
a ship for the dead
flames against the sky
heavy with the weight of weeping
drowned out by sorrow
veiled with the mist of many tears
© Ann Bagnall
2015
