(Dedicated to my loving Grandma Blank)

Taken for granted is the life we are given
Taken for granted are all the people we shall meet;
We end life only wishing to be remembered
By those who will be staying behind
And breathing the air we will never again breathe.

As the record plays over and over all I hear
Are the words to “Amazing Grace” no matter
What is being played, no matter how loud
The lead singer is screaming out at me;
It’s only comes out as the lyrics of “Amazing Grace”
Repeating in a never ending lullaby.

These words are the only ones I can remember
From that final day we sang
And wept our tears and held each other,
Throwing our memories into space as we word
All of what we could remember to those with open ears.

The year I was born was the beginning;
The beginning of the pain, and the suffering:
The beginning of the cancer seeping through
And poisoning the weather worn body
Whose eyes had seen many years
And whose ears had heard many words.

A body holding the soul of one who
Cared for the nature surrounding and
Planted as many trees as humanly possible;
And knew them all by name.

A body holding on and staying strong
Even in the hardest of times;
When others have given up:
Still teaching all the knowledge and surviving
Through all the pain that came.

Sadly, as the years went by
The sickness came in more powerful and strong,
Wearing away at the old body;
So as I was old enough to learn and understand
There was no more teacher there for me to listen to,
Only an old man upon the couch staring at a TV.

As the seasons came and went
The end was coming closer and the cancer
Was closing in on the last days of his life;
Finally ending as he slipped
Out of this world and away off to the unknown.

Death; final and inescapable.
No words will soften the pain that comes
From it, nothing to replace
The harsh reality of it,
He is dead and all I have to say to him is
I
love
you
Though, I will never see you again.