the briar patch graveyard

down in the hollow

behind a sturdy, steadfast home

that was never my own,

lays a briar patch graveyard.

i quietly make my way through,

stepping and turning,

careful to not be caught

by the leafless bramble.

at last i emerge

and stand alone,

quiet for a moment,

allowing the aged ground

to welcome my unannounced visit.

it is a modest grave,

just six stones

to mark a distant and past family

separated by uncertain time.

unknown names

read back to me,

near worn and crumbled away

by weather and now gone years.

kneeling down,

i run my fingers across the faces,

hoping and wishing

to have known their smile.

i count five epitaphs

that tell of a sad but inevitable end,

but one,

a girl's perhaps,

much too small to bear,

can only muster enough

to whisper her name.

i watch them,

motionless and full of memories,

pulling my collar close

as a silent cemetary wind

slips through the jaggared brush.

my hair blows in the chilled air.

my cheeks begin to rose.

i can't speak,

but i don't wish to

all the same.

i only look down to the stones,

surrounded by dying autumn grass

and feel both lost and at home.

i shall never know them,

these silent few,

but i can't help to feel honored

to have stood

by their final bed.

and as i walk away,

mud stuck to my shoes

and a faint melancholy in my heart,

a light rain begins to fall.

Reviews

[Nishant Gupta]

nice one read mine too "QUEST OF LIFE"