THE RECORDING OF A CEMETERY

BY THELMA GREENE REAGAN

Today we walked where others walked

On a lonely, windswept hill;

Today we talked where other cried

For Loved Ones whose lives are stilled.

Today our hearts were touched

By graves of tiny babies;

Snatched from the arms of loving kin,

In the heartbreak of the ages.

Today we saw where the grandparents lay

In the last sleep of their time;

Lying under the trees and clouds -

Their beds kissed by the sun and wind.

Today we wondered about an unmarked spot;

Who lies beneath this hollowed ground?

Was it a babe, child, young or old?

No indication could be found.

Today we saw where Mom and Dad lay.

We had been here once before

On a day we'd all like to forget,

But will remember forever more.

Today we recorded for kith and kin

The graves of ancestors past;

To be preserved for generations hence,

A record we hope will last.

Cherish it, my friend; preserve it, my friend,

For stones sometimes crumble to dust

And generations of folks yet to come

Will be grateful for your trust.

STRANGERS IN THE BOX

Come; look with me inside this drawer In this box I've often seen,

At the pictures, black and white Faces proud, still, serene.

I wish I knew these people, These strangers in the box.

Their names and all their memories Are lost among my socks.

I wonder what their lives were like. How did they spend their days? What about their special times?

I'll never know their ways.

If only someone had taken time

To tell who, what, where, and when; These faces of my heritage

Would come to life again.Could this become the fate

of the pictures we take today?

The faces and the memories someday will pass away.

Make time to save your stories! Seize opportunity when it knocks! Or someday you and yours could be The strangers in this box.