We walked hand-in-hand
over the dew-dropped grass,
the sun mounting the sky
like a proud warrior mounting his steed.
Our path took us to a shadowed, wooded valley
where the crickets still chirped
and this crevice in the crust of the Earth
held onto the night with the grip of a thousand men.
Here, in this synogogue of silence,
my thoughts poured out and flooded me.
In flashes I saw myself,
from childhood to my venerable days.
A smile rose across my lips
as I began to walk once more.
My friend offered me more than I could imagine.
We left the shaded valley, hand-in-hand,
just Death and I.