The first death takes the life
   And deprives us a simple touch
And a familiar laugh
   To fill the spaces around us.

The second death suffers time
   To create a widening rift -
Leaving one weeks - months behind
   As in abandonment.

The third death is our memory -
   What elements - what remnants
Hover almost perceptibly
   But the mind fails to focus.

The final death is the loss of things -
   A favorite - a souvenir
Broken into haphazard pieces
   By a careless hand - forever.