BLEAK SYMPHONY

I took a walk when everything was bleak

The clouds upon a painted sky were grey

The people that I met there could not speak

Depression seemed to leach the life from day.

The trees hung bleak and lifeless, bent and torn

Their passage through the years came at a cost

Now crumbled graves are weathered and well worn

Forgotten monuments that Time has lost.

I too have known his kiss since I was here

Last as a child who didn't understand

How death could take those whom I held so dear

Yet now I feel the caress of his hand.

Our lives are rich with tears and joys and pain

But in the end it's nothing, all in vain.

(Inspired by the poetry of Thomas Hardy)