After the burial of
A neighbourhood child
I  stayed in the cemetery
Where lash grasses
And weeds grow wild.
Out of curiosity,
Inscriptions on
Headstones
I began to read.
At  the height of
Her girlhood
To her parents' grief
A lass cut  brief.

I noticed as runs
The adage
“Drinking one's cup
To the last dregs”
Few had passed away
At a full ripe age,
Some had  ceased to be
Of natural cause
While Others
From the challenges
Life is sure to pose.

Reading, I went deep
Into the quiet wood
As far as I could.

A pregnant woman
Hit by a car
A man shot dead
In a bar!

The clamour of
The  silence
Nudged me
While I still have
The license,
Repentant, my sins
I have to confess.

Then I heard from right and left
"Had we been  in your feet
We wouldn't waste a minute!"
"Your sins get rid of it"
"Do it!"
"Wash it!"
"Before God
You have to stand neat !"

"While in full harness
Sins ablution
Is what must come
To your attention!
Don't wait for
Days of retribution!”

Outside, I began my wits
To gather
To make an open breast of
My sins to
My confessing father!