I didn’t know the someone                 Who left us with this smold’ring                 In our minds; who left us holding Less, and wond’ring what had gone.   And watching from the pew-side,                 Her good friend praying, clinging                 To the railing; mem’ry ringing, With her smile before she’d died,   I saw her shaking, sinking,                 To the floor, and felt my weakness,                 Looking on and standing, helpless – Asking then what all were thinking:   What is this empty evening?                 God, why have You shred these faces?                 Lord of Mercy, filled their glasses With the bitterest of wine?   ---   Later on I heard her brother                 Barely reading what he’d written –                 That she’d never be forgotten, That he’d loved her like no other,   And his voice became unsteady,                 (Had some mem’ry of his sister                 Crossed his eye?) His words were Halting, and his sorrow free.   And I, who was a stranger,                 Bowed my head in silence, broken,                 Wond’ring at the words he’d spoken, Reeling in the painful wonder:   “Tell your family, tell your friends,                 What I wasn’t there to tell her;                 I wish that I had been there, And I will see her, soon, again.”                 ---   And now, the dwindling rays                 Of this dark Friday’s evening                 Are sketching shadows, leaving Traces of the grief-struck day,   And I’m, in silence, sitting;                 Dim reflections of this glory                 Have begun to overcome me; All that I have left is trusting   That the smile she had while with us                 Was like a candle, flick’ring                 In the darkness of our misery  Of a traveler through this earth;   And that her smile, now with You,                 Has become a brilliant burning;                 And though we remain in mourning, Hers is everlasting joy.