The Chorus of the Passing

(play in background while reading:)

When and if my shadow passes

out of this sunlit domain

it will barely be the extinction

                            of a whisper

in the babble of humanity.

Indeed, every single day features

a chorus of the passing,

the extinction of breaths,

and with them voices

speaking the stories

of their lives.

( ezartsncrafts)

The daily music of loss

is subtle indeed,

but it has its gradations --

it ranking soloists, its greater and lesser

choristers.

                      (I will be

                         the least

                                              of the chorus, the

                                                            anonymous

                                                  .)

The soloists pronounce

an aria across

the universe of sound --

an extinctive summation

of their life,

a constellation in the sky.

( jobslegacy valleynewslive )

We sometimes think it is a tragedy

if one soloist outshines the other;

both are good, oh very good --

but in the end

it's all after all

in the end

it's all a small

matter of statistics --

whatever gets the most hits stays

in business.

Wouldn't you say?

A. C. Nielsen, Jr., NYTimesObit

So it's the boldest who rules the day --

Steve Jobs Obit, NYTimes

        

but never the boldest

whose brand of bold

went too far into harm's way.

Fred Shuttlesworth Obituary Washington Post

The Chorus of the Passing

resounds everyday; someday

you will sing too, your story --

your aria --

a summation

of your life.

What will it say?

Prokofiev - Houstonpressblog