The Mockery of Neglect

The lament you make for death—
that is merely memory's grief.

The hardest work on earth is this—
in the fierce grip of love's obsession...
to bury the beloved face.

How long will words end in the crisis of sound?

Mourning for the living—
however terrible the habit,
what you keep for me in your eyes...
in place of tenderness I have seen
the mockery of neglect, and more.