The mourners filed in single file, hats off <br />Tissues in hand, eyes averted from the sad sight. <br />The coffin was closed and a simple spray <br />Of red, white and blue carnations <br />Adorned the ornate brass lid. <br /> <br />The sermon was beautiful, <br />Calling to mind the founding fathers, <br />Their ideals and fortitude <br />In the face of tough decisions, <br />And concluded with the message <br />That those qualities will never go out of style, <br />So long as there is something left <br />Worth fighting for, worth dying for. <br /> <br />The audience seemed loath to leave, <br />And one finally raised a hand, with a question: <br />'Who and what could ever replace what we just lost? <br />For this was the consummate American; this was the America, <br />That untold numbers of soldiers were willing to die for, <br />And outsiders risk death, just to make it to our shores..' <br /> <br />The voice faded out, and a renewed sense of horror <br />Gripped everyone present, and they all thought <br />As one mind, at the same instant: <br />What will we do now- <br />Without the Bill of Rights?<br /><br />Patti Masterman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mourning-a-death/
