WHY CAN'T THE DEAD DIE? AN ODE TO A GREAT FRIEND

I habitually wonder why the dead can’t remain dead...
Why do they have to linger and loiter in our memories?
Awkward!I feel the pain and anguish that they face during the one-minute battle between life and death;
They remain in my heart like a leech that is set to spend eternity.
I try to get rid of the pain and the more I pull away,
The more the sharp-edged-two-pronged-fork drive itself into my heart and pull out my entrails;
I try to avoid tears from blurring my vision but they failed me and came pouring in showers.
The dead are dead and gone but their memories fail to die even after many decades.

I get set to make my journey back to reality when I stumble upon this fresh image;
It was the memory I had exhausted my energy searching for.
I pick it up and set it ablaze and waited for the ashes to form- it was a long wait.
It burned for years and when the fire begins to die,
I search for an urn in which the ashes of the memories of the dead will remain;
I return to find the memory fresher than it was even before I saw it.
I broke down and allowed the tears to flow- it was indeed a storm that would break,
The mightiest ship into bits but I let it out once and for all.

FOR YOU ,GBOLAHAN
June 7,1992- OCTOBER 11,2016