Such a Dear

Returning to the earth
The bones are all that is ever left
Left to blend with ancestral soil
Soaked in stories from the past

She was such a dear
As gentle as a deer
Quick to startle, of nervous disposition
The utterance of words, rare
Yet stories collected in her sighs

At her stillest when death brushed up beside her
We observe the heave of her chest as she struggles for breath
And in these final moments of regret
We wish we had been brave enough to speak the words that choke us
Asked the questions fear stopped us from asking
But we never did
Mistaking her silence

She was such a dear
Tight lipped
Yet as gentle as a deer

Now she’ll take her stories to the grave
Offering a final sigh to the wind