How can we ever know
Another's sorrow,
Especially
When one so dearly loved
Is gone?

Each of us
Stands differently
At the abyss of darkness.

The absence leaves
A yawning emptiness,
A sense of loss
Which becomes an overpowering,
Lonely
Void.

Yet, their life
Had touched ours
In so many ways.

Each touch became
A memory.
Each memory,
A shining jewel
To be held and cherished,
Never to be lost.

Memories alone
Will never completely fill
The emptiness.
But they help bridge
The chasm of our grief
And allow us to continue
Our
Lives.

To once again
Touch the lives
Of those
Who love us.

Original poetry
by
David Alan Hoag
May 19, 1987

I wrote this poem for a friend who was grieving
over a recent death in their family.

The Crossing