Let peace be yours that was not had
When life flowed in your veins,
Who came from a beginning sad,
A world replete in pains.
We never understood the rage
Nor what the triggers were,
As though a beast fit for a cage,
Yet you grew milder.
A proffered finger may get bit,
Yet you would take no bribes;
Nor hatreds ever hate remit
Laden with diatribes:
We grew to learn a sort of peace
Albeit tentative,
A comity—now death’s release
Leaves us bereaved to live.
Nobody ever knew such joy
As you put on display
When irritations that annoy
Seemed briefly gone away.
I felt the moment your breath ceased,
But death, as death will do,
Not undiminished but increased
Keeps love pulsating through.
So rest in peace. A story closed
To never be writ down,
But on our hearts impressed, imposed
A message of renown.