A FLOWER MARKS THE SPOT

Not to be forgotten
Never to be peacefully laid to rest

Memorials for the fallen abound
They are reminders that
Pull at the heart strings
And make everyone think
Of the shortness of living

An irreversible loss that can never be regained
Nor allowed to be forgotten
Is marked for posterity

Street corners and roundabouts
Are enshrined with flowers
Tributes to those
Loved but always taken so soon
Away forever they have gone
Often without a goodbye

A solemn sight they are
A constant reminder that
Life has as its constant neighbour
Death
Him that may not control our destiny
But reaps a harvest must selfishly

Some are heroes and soldiers
Fallen in battle
Some are innocents occupying a grave
When needed by a loved one
All are visibly mourned
And lovingly remembered

A plaque
Or an abundance of flowers
Draws the eyes to
Linger over a spot
Where death called
And was always reluctantly let in

To have lost a brother or sister
A friend
A husband
A wife
A much needed companion
Is often to feel loss so great
No remedy can soothe a hurt
So wrecking
And all consuming

Memories are all that are left
Pilgrimage to that place of ending
Always causes grief anew
As you remember what was lost

To be remembered is
To live almost for ever
Past the drawing of a last breath
Extinguished often unfairly