…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