In Memory Of Lindsay Delano Baker Poem by Linda Marie Van Tassell

The earth is moist from the falling rain,
a face washed pale in a bowl of tears.
In the sheer silence of sorrows stain,
we mourn the man we have loved for years.

His casket is cloaked in freedom's best.
He once saluted her mighty wave.
Now, he's conquered and laid to rest,
soon to be lowered into the grave.

Not a better man throughout the town,
he scattered smiles like a summer sky
till the knife of cancer cut him down,
too deep to live but too good to die.

He suffered more than a man should know
until winter's house became his home.
I shed a tear and glimpse a sparrow
winging its way into heaven's dome.

The trees all clad in the wintry chill,
bereft of all leaves except for one;
and as I watch it, silent and still,
it loses its grip and falls - undone.

No one notices how it descends,
landing on my hand like a lone dove,
a small token of how life transcends
to live in the hearts of those we love.

A thoughtful calm and a quiet grace
mingles sweetly among the flowers.
I close my eyes and can see his face,
knowing we are blessed that he was ours.