You know the man within?
The coffin tells no tales nor answers
Any questions.

I saw him once, his keen eyes staring
Upwards; he did not cry but lying there
An odd calm had befallen him,
      As if the Lord
            Himself
Had lifted off the tearing
Pain for passage to the heavens;
And lying there he said to me,
      He said “How could
            He
      Let me die?”
And not an answer on my lips I
Blinked a glistening eye
And turned.
The question burned inside
Until the fire raged: What was his flaw?
Was he so drenched with innocence
That
      Scorning goodness
            Hell
Retaliated?

A bullet single led astray
      By hands
            Immortal,
Justice weighed by those with stronger arms,
Not stronger will. But will the
      Will of
            God
Reign down almighty?

And down came rain as this I asked within;
And all the pain that had been lifted fell
From gray skies burdened; it landed, warm
Upon my shoulders.
My cold hand squeezed reminded me
      Of company
And feeling in the pulse of his a loss of
      Human quality,
            The Ghost
      That was
My friend
      Is begging of
            Divinity
And all the reigning Powers
To forgive him.

And now you see a coffin wooden laid
Before you; his life betrayed
And I a witness of his memory.
But do you know how this man came to die?
      Blanketed in patriotic drapes,
The coffin tells no tales nor answers
Any questions.
But I was there when this man’s soul
      Uplifted reached the raining
            Heavens,
He begged of me,
      Of Man; of
            God
Forgiveness.

So now, my boy, the coffin lowered
      As he goes to meet our
            Lord
Reminds us all of fate forgiving. But,
Look here, give me your coat,
The clouds are fading fast and
      Slowly warmth envelops
Us; see sun’s soothing rays outreaching,
Paying last respects. Was just a man,
      Your Father.
But his
            Spirit
      Lies
            Immortal.

‘Tis fair, this day, such harmony,
But soon will yield to dark’ning nights.
‘Tis strange, God’s grace, his irony,
As now He gives His final Rites.