Sad Tunes

Dead people only cry at night

Only in the night

Frozen tears leave the living

Stranded by the light

Graveyards are full of names

That keep the mourners busy

Time stands still for a while

Laughter takes a break

Today they’ll drink a toast

To the longest ever wake

Sad tunes play to ghosts

As the night dances by

Memories begin their journey

Flowing to the sky

Tears begin to wane

As the distant star shines bright

You look back for the final time

Hoping for that sign

But time has gone now

Moved further down the line

Waiting for the chosen

Dying in the night

Words are spoken

The final epitaph

Time to say goodbye

They walk away for the final time

Crying in the night

Tomorrow starts another journey

To another losing fight.

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

"Sad Tunes" indeed, Paul :( what i like most about your poem is how it treats multi aspects of death and dying both ... L1 starts right off with a suggestion of those who grieve their own lives away before they know it ... the living dead :( then a serene quiet melancholy of a cemetery .. so many stones so cold :( but .. the Irish in me is sparked ... we drink a toast ... perhaps get on the mend ...but ;) death will have us all eh!? i also like the repetition using "night" ... it taps a bit louder at me door each time i read it .. saving just a bit of rhyme for closing also brings home the point to me ... pity to die in the night ... i hope me own will be in sunlight .. with me boots on ;) call me weird .. but i actually like being in cemeteries ... especially those that are really old .. if one is respectful and quiet .. those ghosts can be both heard and felt .. sighing "Sad Tunes" ... sure enjoyed your poem ... very moving says i!
E.

[Paul Bell]

Yeah, I must admit I quite like graveyards as well.
Always think the dead scream to you to live life to the full, and quite right too, you only get one shot at it.

[Paul Bell]

You having a rest from writing, or are you just building up for the big one.

[Einstein Noodle]

oh.... just not inspired lately ... starting to simmer tho ... usually that means another few weeks to hatch :) ... thanks for noticing my friend ... just kind of resting in it so to speak

[Paul Bell]

The spark is never far from the surface. Hope Sunday is good to you.

[Einstein Noodle]

it was ... thank you .. and may Tuesday be yours! :)

[Pradnya]

Paul,
loved this worked of yours.
but i think on the last note you made about tomorrow starts another journey ---- though the dead, are gone, but then they give us a reason to hold , though the tears are quick, but eventually they stop to prick( anymore), they give us weeping memories and later the reminders of those holy scenes (the time we have spent with them), Their loss can be turned into a prose,even death of our loved ones can be viewed in a different way.
so much to learn from this poem of yours, even such emotions can be sensed, thanks for sharing

[Paul Bell]

The dead sure hold us to account, pricks at our vulnerability.

[Marina]

Don't think I vanished again. I'm here, lurking in the shadows. Of that particular cemetary.
On a serious note, I like this piece, it's haunting but it's soft and mellow at the same time.

[Paul Bell]

Lurking in cemeteries, that's dead nice. lol

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"they'll be sad songs, to make us cry, sad songs often do" (billy ocean)
and it does seem sometimes that our attention gets spent more on those who have passed, than those who are still alive and well and wishing for our attention.
"they only come out at night"
and we seem to live in the graveyard with them...or are camped outside the door hoping to get in.
j.

[Paul Bell]

So true, hopefully they'll wait a long time for my arrival.