The casket cradles her stationary body
like the pink ribbons once embraced her abundant hair.
An expressionless face replaces a wide smile and perfectly
rounded cheeks that exuberantly lifted affliction while animate.
No one was ready for this conclusion of irreplaceable existence.

The familiar country road that took her home everyday
took her life that commonly cold, but exceptionally definitive night.
Legs that once jumped, ran, danced now lay still
beneath layers of unnaturally crafted wood and fabric.

As she can no longer produce motion, everyone seems to be
scampering in surplus from one to another grasping for condolence.
Paternal arms struggle around me
as I become embraced in a loss much greater than my own.