Quietly

Quietly you lived,
Quietly you bore;
Quietly you made,
Quietly you tore;
Quietly in time,
Quietly you learned;
Quietly with age,
Quietly you burned;
Quietly they lied,
Quietly forswore;
Quietly you must,
Quietly let go.

Burn

If there comes a time when I feel no more,
Put fire to my flesh in haste.
There will not be any reason in store
To appear modest or chaste.

The songs would have been defunct by then,
Romances would be long dead;
Indubitably count inward till ten,
Think of your new life instead.

You won’t even think twice of me once done,
No turning back at the gate!
You have had your fill, my share of the fun:
Of my smiles, my time, my fate.

The fire won’t need you, once it has been lit,
Who’ll need you later who’d know.
When the bones grow chalky cold in a bit,
Come back to end the last show.

Take the ashes and cast them to the sea,
Just end to futurity.
Finite end, make sure there be:
To the fire, to us and me.