The Meaning of Life

I have seen the meaning of life lived out in death;
The power of love transform loss and regret.
I have watched the dying do ministry to the living;
Spending their final days reaching out; not taking but giving.
Time is not a friend when the angel of death is waiting;
Yet time turns into emptiness as one's life-force is draining.
Family, friends, strangers all in the grips of death's presence;
The unfortunate whole wanting to give away some of their essence...
But death has no feeling for our gifts sublime;
The dying walk us through to the edge of time.
If we watch, with hope, the dance of the dying;
We will learn more about life than in all earthly striving...