on the stones the numbers etched
do the math and you can see
between the numbers
whole lives lived
decades filled with pain and joy
sometimes even a whole century
or close to it
what strange and wondrous things
must they have seen and known
in all that time?
but do the math and you can also see
whole lives too short
boys sent off to war
girls fallen ill
and babies – so many babies –
‘Henry, our little dear’
‘aged 2yrs 8mo 3d’
every day counted
‘baby girl gone to sleep’
‘b. May 5, 1914 d. June 7, 1914'
do the math and try to measure
immeasurable grief
sometimes
two or three or five children gone
from the same family,
no more names below them
do the math
poem (c) 2017 D. Ohlandt
please only reprint in entirety and with credit given
#40for40