Farragut

by Lilian Bui

I lifted my calloused heart
With apologetic hands
And, curling away, tucked it back under my sleeve.

The eyes on the train never twitched,
Forever fixated on their own reflections in the window.

8:15AM in the Mo(u)rn.

by Lilian Bui

After the monks were gone
There was silence.

Ringing
Lingering
Deafening
Silence.

Silence tilting cough drop wrappers
On his study table;
Silence that congests
A closet full of pin-striped dress shirts,
Woolen vests, and linen pants never to be worn again.
Silence that pauses in front of picture frames
Before heaving a sigh.
Silence over 45's left to gather dust
And model airplanes that will never fly.
Silence stalling typewriter keys from
Their metric lullaby.

Silence that absorbs
The musky odor that tears leave
After they crust and flake
Silence that exposes a vacant, hollow core.
Silence that amplifies
The hands of time
Ticking
Tocking
Mocking those that remain.

We are as dispensable
As the incense that we burn
While wait our turn
To also crust, to flake.

Death - a memory without pain when life departs
But pain in surplus for beating hearts.

Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep

By Mary Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

Remember

By Christina Rosetti

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you plann'd:

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

By Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labour, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

When We Two Are Parted

Written by Lord Byron

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted,
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sank chill on my brow
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met
In silence I grieve
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

By John Donne

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent...

Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

Winter of Our Discontent

By Lilian Bui

There was a time when laughter was king
When summer prevailed, when youth would sing
But now it's winter.
Winter.

There was conviction in your prime
But your ambitions wrinkled through time
Will you ever feel warm again?

Oh, you'll try to fight it
Because you can't keep quiet
But you'll lose.
We all lose.