The Graveyard Grass

The graveyard grass waved softly unto me,

"Look on the grey tombstone," the silence said;

Once mighty bones upon the earth did tread,

With paws and jaws exulting wild and free.

Yet now no thunder answers from below,

No proud dominion stirs the sleeping clay;

The winds alone recount the names away,

And through the yews their mournful murmurs flow.

The moon cast argent veils on every mound,

As time inscribed its gospel upon stone

Each lord and beast alike was overthrown,

And yielded sceptre, fang, and laurel crown.

Then spoke the grass: "All flesh must bend and fade,

However fierce the breath that fills the chest;

The earth receives the conqueror and blessed,

And wraps them all beneath a common shade."

I bowed and left that congregation still,

Where dust obeyed eternity's calm will.