We stand a solemn watch
The young ones fidget
Some cry
Most bow their heads and murmer
I think they pray for their own immortality
They say you were too young to go
You lie so quiet in your earth furniture
Your body of flesh and bone
Waiting to return
To the cycle of all life
But your soul is a winged creature
That has already taken flight
You travel the night sky
Waiting just beyond my window
Inexorable as time
I see you in the pale streams of gold
That pour through the windows
Your warmth envelops me
I can almost hear the flutter of your wings
Wait, I whisper, I am coming.