Funeral During A Pandemic - Larry Robinson

[Larry Robinson]

Funeral During A Pandemic

You will die.
Everyone you know will die.
You know this.
But you don’t know when.

Until now it has been easy
to believe it will be some time off
in the far distant future; too far 
to really consider it a factor 
in how you live your life.

But now can you feel the angel circling,
coming in for a landing somewhere near.

At the graveside service
we keep our bodies distant
as prudence and patriotism advise. 

But we touch with eyes, 
with voices joined in song,
wondering who will be next and
how often we will gather this way 
to remember…

How precious these days and
how precious these glances that say
“I see you; you are not alone!”

May we learn to hold each life tenderly
and see it for the fragile, 
luminous and improbable gift that it is.

	- Larry Robinson