The Duty of Lovers*

What is the duty of lovers

when faced with reports of death

loss

suicide and worse

How do you comfort the mother

whose soldier son succumbed

to a mortar blast

while on the phone with Dad

What liturgy makes sense

to one who knows no god

whose prayers lie dormant

in an undiscovered room

Lovers bereft

unable to surrender

the loved one to fate

prolong the inevitable

Dying is a process

for novices

Those with experience

want the unvarnished truth

They find no comfort

in prolonging the inevitable

Death

in the end

marks days and nights

with a period

Silence permeates

the final curtain

Your head turns

listening for

your name

spoken by

the loved one's voice

Yearning

intense as the yucca's thirst

Your need flows between

the interstices

of each day's moments

weaving a net of desire

that will remain

unrequited

*"The Duty of Lovers" is a phrase from a Leonard Cohen song.