Upon Revisitation (An Afterward, an Elegy) -7/03/06

The mourners all like wedding guests process
The aisle and take their seats to start the rote,
And you are there in black: your finest coat,
Though vestal white would be your right to dress.

But here we have no wisdom to impress
A soul who thus has overleaped the moat
That sep’rate keeps the pilgrim, sheep and goat,
Our spirits yet too weak to dare transgress.

So many mourn, and fear the course you ran.
They count untested mettle as a boon,
Though you, above them all, have braved the tomb.
So young, so young, so young to be a man!
So glorious your wings, to fly so soon!
Magnificent your seed, so young to bloom!