I walk between these graves,
glance over at the stones,
dead leaves of autumn while I walk
make no sound as I step on them.

The little girl who lays,
flowers by her father’s grave,
smiling as she tells him of her days,
Sitting atop his gravestone,
he smiles back.
While she stares through him into the abyss.

The young wife of a sailor,
lost to the seas,
leaving her ring behind.
Bitter-sweet while she leaves with her new love.
He smiles at her.
For he’s happy in her happiness.

The old couple of age,
with toys for their child.
Shed tears on the grave
while they tell her of her sister.
She smiles in her cradle.
Happy now for the stillborn lovers.

The young man in elegant threads,
leaving a card for his mother.
She left him at his birth.
A man now that stands before her,
soon to be married to his love.
She blesses her child, the smiling, teary-eyed little angel.

I walk through the graves,
a pleasant sight indeed,
awaiting dawn.
Patiently,
waiting for smiles to visit my grave.

By: Viraj Belgaonkar