Lay Me Down Poem by L MILTON HANKINS

Lay me down when I die neath
A beautiful blue Kentucky sky
With billowing cumulus overhead
Lay me down in a flowered bed.

Take me hence from the loneliness
Of life, these lingering bitter years
And blanket me over with heather
Lying next to my beloved forever.

Please shed not a single tear about
My stay here upon this shaded earth
Sing a song of joy for I have passed
To face longed for eternity at last.

Then think how you will face the end
Of life, when your time will come
Where you will lie in perfect peace
For your days here will surely cease.

Dwell not on what you might have done
Before upon your last bed lying
Sad to ponder a promise broken
A harsh word after so cruelly spoken.

Remember all the marvelous times
You spent with family and friends
Those kind deeds you had almost forgot
How living was not then all for naught.