by Emma McIntyre

Fie! Away, mournful silence!
It is you again, who finds comfort in the uniform greys;
The faded names. The eroded stone; you, alone.
Sunrise, sunset. Son, brother, friend.
You continue; crushing souls beneath your feet
Until you pause at mine, and study
The inscription above my head
Through the sky’s deluge and through my marrow.
Letters carved into immortal stone:
Sunrise, sunset. Daughter, sister, friend…
It is within these letters that I find my being.
Indeed, by these few letters, I am seen.
On my life, I am seen!

Yet, you fail to see me;
My mien; my person.
And you continue once more.
For in my place, you regard but the unadorned headstone
Where a vestige of my essence now lies.