The Third Death
The first death is the physical,
the shock of the person gone,
no longer there to hold
or see or hear,
all of their possessions
no longer theirs
The second death is the realization
that they will not be here
for the rest of your life;
at any occasion of family and friends,
through further losses and celebrations,
they will be missing
The third death
is how they disappear
from most conversation
into the realm of thought and feeling only,
as if being alive is a requirement
for inclusion
The third death
includes the awareness
that most of the living shun the dead
and that someday, we too
will be an occasional thought or feeling
unspoken