meter, rhyme and other possibilities

the graves go on in endless rows

as snow peppers the ground with white

devout or evil they did sow

but now they all lie here tonight

 

the air is cold and deathly still

even the ghosts have fled the cold

i hear they winter in brazil

well, at least that’s what i’m told

 

but tighter still i grip your hand

for i would never walk alone

in such a morbid moonlit land

the dead have littered with their bones

 

a single rose arrayed in red

is tightly held against your breast

to honor one you know now dead

a simple act meant to protest

 

the loss of one you loved in life

a love that lingers even still

the rose is laid as if a knife

has found the stone has blood to spill

 

you bow your head in silent prayer

while my eyes glance at every noise

you speak to who is laying there

beneath this state of illinois

 

you made us stop on our way east

so you could see him once again

when you were young his breathe did cease

but yours has softly said “amen”

 

at last you’re ready to depart

and so we walk this winter night

there is such sadness in your heart

while i restrain from taking flight

 

from the harvest of our souls

that each in turn will reap with death

we live our lives with lofty goals

but each will have a final breath

 

***