Honoring Those Before Us
By Elaine McCoy Martin

Quiet peaceful days on lawns of green
Birds singing tunes in nearby trees
Epitaths and words of love are seen
Telling stories that hold the pasts key

Such is the scene we would like to see
When we visit those that went before us
Walking amid headstones in a soft days breeze
Looking for a name that is ever timeless

But sometimes we forget to honor the past
And cemeteries become neglected and forgotten
It causes me great pain as I stand there agast
Wondering what happened to the eternal garden

I frantically write down the stones details
Anxious to read all the things that were said
Some tell a story of what their life entailed
Where they were born or even why they are dead

And with each stone that I find to embrace
I wonder how many others are here unnamed
Like data on a blackboard that time has erased
No one left to care, no one left to lay claim

With great sadness I write unmarked for this space
No name, no dates, no words of love inscribed
But I always have hope that sometime, someplace
Will be found a clue for who lies here described

But until that time when a name will be found
I will continue to record all that is engraved
With hopes and prayers that the blank piece of ground
Will one day have a stone with a name that can be saved