None of the dead return to this world
escaping the bonds from the beyond
intruding where the living must rule
except in the case that most excuse
the door is closed once they’ve passed
don’t be complacent with this fact
sometimes the departed will carry on
without regard for those that remain

to roam the boundaries in sun’s bright light
becomes the same as night’s felled shroud
neither denying those who press on
to assert themselves after the tomb
when the bonds are reticent
to push them through the opaque veil
shades circle round the worn paths
remembering what many have lost

some choose to stay after the dirge
neither cremation nor coffin chase
reluctant spirits lost in between
to the last peace that death surely holds
none may come back, so says the Saint
even though God would show them the way
that passage points to only one course
the unwilling pause to haunt evermore.

© 2018. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20181005.