His Final Bow Poem by Bryan Taplits

A dying man-too brief, so sad,
His gravestone read: 'I wish I had.'

Heretofore when alive
he was rigidly upright
always unbending-
Even at night.
So as he lay in his coffin-
stiff at his end,
No more could he stretch
(And he still couldn't bend) .
And they who wept and wailed
at his new rest,
Knew not of his deeds as they viewed his grave
containing both the old
and his sodden new depths.

And the celestial epitaph that the heavens
Had now sowed,
Endowed him for eternity
With this inscription:
'God Only Knows.'
And this engraving that eternity did write
Was never forgotten,
And accompanied him everywhere
As he strode towards the night.