The Gravestone

This was on my way home from work, taking the short cut through the cemetery.

I walk down the cemetery
Looking at the gravestones, thinking
Thinking a lot about what I'm seeing
The ground beneath me slowly sinking.

Some plots include entire families
While others hold just one person
Some only months apart from each other
Some gravestones are marked and others uncertain.

Some have quotes engraved in the stone
Others just have a name, a birth year and death year
It's a final destination for all of us
A reminder of our natural fear.

Some gravestones, I notice have more than one name added
Of people completely unrelated to each other
Could these be modern pauper graves?
Most are older and some are younger.

Across from the pauper's
This line of stones extends
Instead those stones read the names of babies
The cemetery is where the abortion debate ends.

Some I'm sure died from a miscarriage
But all were deprived of a fighting chance
Some were taken by God, others manually before delivery
The cemetery, doesn't care about your political stance.

We can live our lives how we see fit
It doesn't really matter how well we are known
At the end of a certain period of time
We become only an engraving on a gravestone.

Reviews

[Valentine]

Not just gravestones, but old golfers, on the 18th tee, fishermen, in a river etc. Burials are more than some people can afford. In some countries where ground is sparse, they are planted atop of each other. Valentine

[Aries1984]

Hi Valentine! It's always a pleasure to read your reviews. I actually didn't know about the golfers. The fishermen and Sailors being buried at sea, I have heard of those. Although for Sailors, it's not like how it was during WWII where (because of the war) there were so many in the Navy that were dying that they had to bury their dead at sea. Right now that kind of burial in the Navy is only reserved for the Admiral (or whatever the highest Navy title is). I also thought that the reason for burying 6ft was to be ale to plant atop of each other. In some places I know they bury above ground, like in New Orleans.

[Valentine]

Where land is sparse in smaller countries they are buried standing the coffins so more fit into the spaces.

[closed]

very somber
the sadness of this is a reflection not only of one of our deepest fears...

but seems to make a strong political statement as to both the futility and value of life at once...

amazing


-Dream

[Aries1984]

Thank you for your comment. The particular cemetery in the poem I'm talking about is located between my work place and my house. So sometimes when I'm off early I take the shortcut through that cemetery. The cemetery is called The Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park. So it's not just a cemetery but also considered a park because of it's huge size. It's a beautiful place and it's totally not uncommon to see people just walk around or, sit down somewhere and ponder on things. Some even walk their dogs there. Of course they have to be leashed and can't mark territories.

I had the thought for the poem in my head for several months. But I think that what really got me to write about it was seeing graves of people who were born in the 1830's and died like in the 1870's. That kind of got me thinking how if that person died in say, 1875, chances are that their bones are long gone as well, so there's practically an empty box sitting 6 feet below me right now. There was one time I was there looking for a specific grave of a family I knew who are buried there. So I asked the funeral home secretary to help me out to find it because that place is so huge it really is not easy to find a specific grave. The lady was like, "Oh yeah they are buried in the University of Washington section of the cemetery." There's a section of that cemetery that is owned by the University of Washington Medical Center. There are several gravestone slabs that have a name and the date of death is the same as the date of birth. That's were I was like, "Oh my gosh! This is where all of the unborn children are buried, whether they were miscarried or aborted." That was surreal for me to see that. That cemetery has a long of history. On the other side of HWY 99, right at the very back is a bike trail that I used to ride back home from work. It used to be a street car rail line. There's an entrance into the cemetery right were the old depot was located. It makes me wonder what the connection between the streetcar rail line and the cemetery.

[closed]

wow
that sounds like incredible inspiration

you could be a journalist or something with that kind of curiosity and commitment to developing a story

also, you seem to have a very analytical eye for things

[Aries1984]

I don't know about having an analytical eye lol. But I do love to think and ponder about things that we may take for granted because we use them like 2nd nature or something like what's in the poem. I say let your thoughts run wild and write about what comes to your mind. Don't be afraid to think and don't shy away from writing about it either.