Hope and Future and Chance

The pain of his past rested on the front of his eyes,
Memory tempted then mocked and let loose in droplets.
Where now can pale usefulness express its wont?
How will tomorrow find reason inside old couplets?

Full-time folly found rest upon the other slack shoulder,
And swirling, the promise and the lie presented opportunely;
Yet a path coursed beyond the copse, bidding one to follow;
New memory scorned to breach history, to grow jejunely.

An old minstrel parsed a chord, and improved;
The song of song that choirs failed yet chimed aloud;
While pan wrens sauntered and soared ever above,
Dodging the eagles, falling, sprinting to eclipse yon cloud.

Tears will dry with hope and future and chance rekindled;
Goats may prance upon thatched roofs, high and mighty,
But the parson-chaplain rises early to great the new day,
And pale usefulness finds expression, keen and rightly.

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The Names

The names, the names, the names, the names,
O my goodness, the names—
The person we knew,
The people we met,
The families we held,
The tears we let.
Our team was called,
Our team replied,
Our team toiled,
On each other our team relied.
The names, the names…
“Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake…”
Bless our hospice for the care we take.
The names….