The Final Farewell

When a villager dies—

a friend, a parent, or a brother—

then we begin to think deeply:

why do we quarrel, my friends?

The phone rings early—

who could it be, who could it be now?

The message is a sorrowful one:

so-and-so has died today.

The news keeps spreading

until everyone has heard—

another villager is gone

from this city.

Young and old gather together

in the biting cold,

to stand before the lifeless body

and say their final farewell.

His soul will take flight

to the heights above the village

before it goes to rest

in the hands of God.

Now we only come together

on occasions like this;

we see each other nowhere else

but in such moments.

Whose children are all these?

we all begin to wonder.

We have scattered so far away

throughout this city.

Who is that old man

with his white hair,

walking with his cane?