Does Death Come Quick and Quiet?

When we lose someone we truly love, we breakdown. That's what happened to me. I lost my friend to a bullet, and at his burial I wrote him this poem, to his memory. I will always remember him.

Does death come quick and quiet

When stories' ends begin?

Where edges meet and crumble,

And fall on holes of sin?

Does death come lost in vision

Where people often look,
And search the crossings thorough

Where darkness overtook?

If death comes quick and quiet,

Then tell me where to look.

For death came slow and violent

Like clocks that go unwound

When heroes died of fighting and

Love sent them to the ground.

Oh, death was strong and sluggish

It brought thunder and a grin

And to screams I whispered, "Hush,

Death shall soon set in."

As I held the dying hands

Yes, they grew colder still.

So tell me how to wipe off

The blood here from my arms,

And bless them with the power to

Return to them the harm!

For I have seen the fallen,

The way they scream to hum...

If death comes quick and quiet,

When will mine ever come?

Reviews

[therisa]

Aureus, you paint a vivid and powerful picture of your emotional connection to your late friend, with your words. I can only wish for a similar memorial poem, like this. As for your question, hopefully not for a very long time, so your poetry can spread out and touch the hearts of other readers, like it did to mine. Thank you for sharing this very personal poem with us. Hoping it offered some closure for your grieving heart.