One summer, passing by the
Cemetery in the evening,
I realized the people there
Had once been here like me.

They had their lives and
Hopes and dreams the same as everybody,
And then forever went away
Into Eternity.

I wondered if her wish came true ,
Or if his dreams were shattered.
Had all their hopes been lost and then
Regained by answered prayer?

Twas then I understood at last,
Their trials had not mattered.
For those who set their sights beyond
No more their burdens bear.

Copyright © 1997 by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

Publications: Rolla, MO: Southwinds, Winter 1998; Owings Mills, MD: The Soft Parade, The National Library of Poetry, 1998; Independence, MO: Eagle's Echo, January, 2000

1998 President's Award for Literary Excellence, National Authors Registry

Honorable Mention, Summer 1997 Illiad Literary Awards, Cader Publishing

Author's Note: Poems viewed here are the latest versions and are not necessarily word-for-word as published.