The sun sets early in this place

And does not return for days

From across the horizon

Comes the wistful murmurs 

In voices of loved ones, long dead. 

There are no human footprints

To dispel the stillness with noise

No questions that need be answered

No cell phone rings to annoy.

The living, at last, have been silenced.

Come, sit by my side if you find me

Restless in the darkening void

All that is good, all that is glowing

Are hidden within your hands,

Hands that hold mine, fists unclenched.

Together we celebrate those lives

The ones who died but walk by our side

The footsteps receding only to return

The voices softening only to resonate

The ones who we cannot let depart.

No coming back, the wise ones say.

Yet you and I, we know the dead wait.

A hand paused on the door,

A fragrance that cannot be explained…

For us to smile and reminisce, lest we forget.