Their Funeral

Written by Emily Hudak

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There were a lot of people in the cemetery that day,
All of them were gathered near that headstone,
The one with the letters I was trying so hard to forget.
As I listened to the minister's words,
I tried to focus,
But they brought a feeling of deja-vu.
They sounded strangely familiar,
Like the ones the doctor had used.
I tried to block out the pain,
But it was too strong.
Lots of people were there,
People we knew mixed in with strangers.
It was different for us five,
So different.
We were scared of what was to come,
Because we had to deal with
Their deaths so differently.
People kept coming up to the five of us,
Telling us how sorry they were,
Telling us that they would live in our hearts
Forever.
But, in the back of our minds,
We knew we'd have to go on with our lives
Without them,
And that our lives would never be the same.
I wanted it to be the way it had always been,
But I knew it never would be.
As the ceremony ended,
And we started walking out of the cemetery,
We stood out from everyone else.
My infant brother in my oldest brother's arms,
My older brother and younger sister and I walking close,
Comforting each other.
We weren't in our parents' arms,
Being hugged,
Having them ease our pain.
No, we weren't walking out off the cemetery with our parents,
For we'd left them behind,
Underneath that headstone with two names.