It is an eerie task of magnitude.
I must capture the essence of you
and chisel it into a slab of marble.
I am neither priest, poet, nor stone mason.
Yet the task is for me;
I knew you best.
You were the recorder of memories
and maker of dreams.
Can I capture the smile in your eyes,
on your lips and in your walk?
Should I carve sunsets and dreams,
or the happy tears?
Titles of your favorite books and poems?
A silhouette of you on your crying rock?
A playful hand on a child's head?
The merit badge for experiences collected?
These are the essence of the you I knew.
For he who will seek a rubbing from your slab,
the stranger from another time,
can never know these things of you.
You took them with you when you left.
But, I can never forget.
And, I need something said for me,
said so the stranger can know.
This I will carve:
"Ably and Deservedly Loved."
All shall know you by this simple truth.
And he who carves also will be he who loved.