the day my father died

the day my father died
i could not cry
my mother cried
not i

his face on the pillow
in the dim light
wrote mourning to me
black and white

we saw him struggle
stiffen,relax
the face fell empty
dead as wax

i'd read of death
but never seen
my fathers face,i swear
was not a scene

topple that lie
however appealing
that face was absence
of all feeling

my mother's tears were my tears
each sob shook me
the pain of death is living
the dead are free

for me my father's death
was mother's sorrow
that day was her day
loss was tommorrow.