You are not condemned To the confines of life Nor the sounds of being locked in And hit by dirt You do not belong To the flowers they send The wishes they write Or the tree they plant in your name You are not prisoner To a shallow grave And a shallower gravestone Not even to the duties you left behind You have not been claimed By the years you will not see The tears you cannot dry Or the hugs you cannot return You are not captive To the sounds and words That defined you Or the way people shaped you Because you are free from condemnation From the clutch of sickness Free to leave and wipe the tears And hug the ones that hesitate To throw the dirt over the years You are free from prison, From proclamation, From captivity and condemnation To help and to inspire And to free others from a prison Of grief.
To Christopher Carney and family. May a battle asΒ hard as this never touch your lives again. Rest in peace, Mr. Carney. Beloved teacher and friend 1968 (I'm unsure of the date- February 20th, 2014