david lessard (september fourteenth, nineteen forty-one / gardner, massachusetts)

I saw you as you were,
Not as the person I last viewed -
You were handsome, strong and good,
Movie star looks and a great smile.

The body that died that day
Was small and shrunken...
Withered and skeleton appearing.
Nothing like you were.

You didn't want me around,
You wanted to die alone...
And I granted you, your wish...
Leaving you dying solitarily.

I said I'd see you next
Up there...and you nodded.
You'll be as I remember you,
Full of vigor and strength.

I may not know you right off,
Nor you, me...
But who's to say. what we
will discover,
on that great and glorious day?