It began with a wisp of hair
Curling above the edge of the wood,
The curve of a button nose--
Unexpected.

You wore purple
And maybe you were due
To be beautiful,
But dead is dead.

A favorite dress
Does not make you who you were;
It can't bring back the life
That used to live behind those eyes.
Those eyes closed shut
With caked makeup.

They could have done a better job.

I looked that young man
Right in the face,
Seeing the age behind the numbness.
The sudden age that puts the world
On a pair of shoulders
That have slumped with resignation.

I took his cold hand in mine
And all I could think to say
Was "you'll be
okay."