A Grief Observed

Everyone I've ever known
Left me in my funeral clothes
With nothing but a single rose
To drop before the pall box closes
It's lowered down
Lowered down

One day I will do the same
They beg me not to talk that way
But seconds pass and minutes fade
And time would never cower from the likes of me
So lower it down

Mercy on my soul
On my soul
On my soul

If a coward dies a million times
He feels the first plunge of the knife
Every time he shuts his eyes
And wakes the morning with his cries
Then what am I if not the same

I miss her unexpectedness
Her faults and her resistances
If God remains persistent with
The pain he brought her
How can I still pray to him?
We're not the same

Mercy on her soul
On her soul
On her soul

She said she was at peace with God
Though she knew that I was not
The chaplain gave his final thoughts
She exhaled and then smiled
But it was not for me
A grief observed

How wicked would it be for you
To wish her back now that she's through
To pray her back once she's passed through
A ray of light between right now and evermore
A grief observed

Mercy on our souls
On our souls
On our souls

Mercy on our souls
On our souls
On our souls