On the Road to Falmouth

stonewall
 
Here, gathered lives rest
beyond the wall, in the earth
where speckled tablets stand 
embedded and embossed
memories of breath’s end

Infants and sages lie marrowless 
earth-warm beneath the traveling leaves,
crusty snow, and pounding rains 
archived remains in situ
mythically thrust into the Shawme

From continent to colony to commonwealth,
events like frantic shadows drift above the 
the soft sleepy contours hiding the 
stilled reality of completed lives

Born of dead ice 
this landing of souls, this landing of dust 
holds the weary and the prosperous 
the careless and the thoughtful
the knavish and the obedient
...they are with us still.

NOTE: These words were written years after a visit to the Old Town Cemetery in Sandwich, MA. Founded in 1639, it is the oldest town on Cape Cod.

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