Patti Masterman - Mourning a Death

The mourners filed in single file, hats off
Tissues in hand, eyes averted from the sad sight.
The coffin was closed and a simple spray
Of red, white and blue carnations
Adorned the ornate brass lid.

The sermon was beautiful,
Calling to mind the founding fathers,
Their ideals and fortitude
In the face of tough decisions,
And concluded with the message
That those qualities will never go out of style,
So long as there is something left
Worth fighting for, worth dying for.

The audience seemed loath to leave,
And one finally raised a hand, with a question:
'Who and what could ever replace what we just lost?
For this was the consummate American; this was the America,
That untold numbers of soldiers were willing to die for,
And outsiders risk death, just to make it to our shores..'

The voice faded out, and a renewed sense of horror
Gripped everyone present, and they all thought
As one mind, at the same instant:
What will we do now-
Without the Bill of Rights?

Patti Masterman

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mourning-a-death/