I LAY DOWN IN MY GRAVE
by Henry D Parrish Jr.
I lay down in my grave,
peace settling in around me.
The passing years
rapidly flashing before my eyes—
my first memory at four years old:
cows in the field, an electric fence,
the scar now on my hand.
Then the first time I fell in love,
a scar now on my heart.
A childhood of chaos,
a childhood of pain and sorrows.
I lay down in my grave,
peace settling in around me.
The weight of years passing by,
the pain slipping away.
And in the stillness I see it—
all the faces I have loved,
all the voices I have lost,
each one a flicker, a star
in the dark sky above my mind.
The chaos softens,
the sorrow loosens its grip,
even the scars glow faintly
like constellations of survival.
And as the earth embraces me
I understand at last:
I was more than my pain,
more than my years,
more than the grave
that now carries me home.
