LESSONS FROM A FUNERAL HOME

by Al Staggs

Like actors in a play,

we perform our roles

until our script is complete.

There is no rehearsal before

the stage manager pushes us on to the stage

with no instructions

and we do not choose those

with whom we share performance space.

Our works of compassion,

our loving caresses and kisses are eternal,

they are gifts for all time

as those expressions remain long after

we are laid down to our final repose.

So we must live lovingly

so that these tender expressions,

these gifts,

will serve as sources of inspiration

for those who remain.

This life is only and merely the opportunity

to enable the lives of those who follow.

Thus, we are more alive when we have passed.