Angry At The Passing Of A Friend... Poem by Denis Martindale

I got the news the other day… a phone call, nothing more…
Sad news, of course, that brought dismay… a truth I can't ignore…
With consequences yet to be… the domino effect…
With life's tiles falling down, you see… and lacking all respect…
Devoid of love, devoid of hate… no matter, tears or sighs…
Because death comes fulfilling fate… and so each good friend dies…

And whether each was young or old… a healthy soul or sick…
Each morning comes till death takes hold… another soul to pick…
To leave behind its mad extremes… its trail of tears on Earth…
Its taunting of our broken dreams… its stealing of Man's worth…
The Book Of Job then comes to mind… I pause to praise God, too…
Regardless of the dread I find… the sad things left to do…

For times will come when I will laugh… as new friends make me smile…
Not dwelling on some epitaph… or flashbacks that beguile…
Though friends must come and friends must go… another friend has died…
Yet fearful thoughts will melt like snow… when anger must subside…
So give me time till grief dies down… for grief, like friends, must die…
Perhaps through tears God sends to drown… till peace comes gliding by…


Denis Martindale 26th of October 2019.