dearly departed

dearly departed,
here we are again,
back to the place it all began,
back to the earth where we belong,
where the soil is damp and the grass grew long.
An old priest whose name no one remembered,
mumbled and uttered some few words of prayer,
to the body that is buried six feet under,
" May he rest in peace and go with You, Father."
People gathered around to see his face,
"oh how young, isn't that a waste?"
followed by fallen tears and broken cries,
hugs and kisses and even more goodbyes.
They mused on about what might have been,
"He had his whole life ahead of him."
then go home and thank their lucky stars,
for it had not been them in that wrecked car.
From that day on, they make promises to be good and careful,
to never bring upon their loved ones something so hurtful.
But humans are forgetful creatures after all,
it won't be long for their guards to slip and fall.
That's when death wins the game,
laughing while he stakes his claim,
which brings us back to...dearly departed.

Dinner table

There we sat,
 At the dinner table,
 With our distant family and long lost friends,
 All of us waiting for the pretense to end.
 Everyone just seated and the food has came,
 People patted one another and called out names.
Someone asked," how do you do? "
 And you answered " fine, thank you."
That's far from the truth, But what did they know?
It's not like they care, So why let it show?
 
 There we sat,
At the dinner table,
 With our napkins on our laps,
 And our fingers on our phone,
 It looked like we're together,
When in fact we're all alone.
With mouths opened wide,
 And ears shut tight,
Our eyes moved from side to side,
Our feet tapped away the night.
The food was plenty, the glass never empty,
 The night was jolly, the people were merry,
So why did you feel so tired and weary?

 There we sat,
 At the dinner table.
 The bill arrived and the host paid,
 " well, it's getting late, " someone said.
 " it's nice having you here" he turned to you.
You smiled and nodded like you were supposed to.
 " we have to do this again some other day"
Then you shook hands and go your separate ways.
You wanted to laugh
 It sounded dry
It was so sad
More like a cry
 There's nothing left but to go home now
 "this dinner will be my last," you silently vowed.
 A promise that can never be kept,
 Not by you anyway.