As the sunlight shone on the churchyard <br />Where the steeple drew to the sky, <br />And it reached to the clouds of the dawning rise <br />That sailed like a gentle sigh. <br /> <br />As the breeze then blew through the treetops <br />The ripples of leaves like the sea, <br />That caressed all the stones on the shoreline <br />And stirred all the shadows to flee. <br /> <br />Then from out of the tombs and the crosses <br />That lay 'neath the shade of a yew, <br />A lady in black with a basket walked <br />And she wept for the soul that she knew. <br /> <br />She paused by the grave of her loved one <br />Then knelt with his stone at her side, <br />With a handkerchief clasped in her fingers pale <br />To dry all the tears that she cried. <br /> <br />The priest as he strolled down the pathway <br />Saw the lady who wept by the grave, <br />So they knelt and they prayed there together then <br />He told her to try and be brave. <br /> <br />He rested his hand on her shoulder <br />Then he left her to mourn all alone, <br />As she placed all the flowers she had carried there <br />In a vase at the head of his stone. <br /> <br />She then blew a kiss as she parted <br />And she looked to the dawning sky, <br />For she sought there his face in the clouds that passed <br />But so sadly they all blew by.<br /><br />ANDREW BLAKEMORE<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/as-the-sunlight-shone-on-the-churchyard/
