The Dead (Davies)

The Dead written by William Henry Davies

From "My Garden", 1933

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Not till my Spirit's naked and ashamed,
And free of mortal flesh, would I desire
To sit in close communion with the dead.
I would not hear a friend exclaim in ire -
'When I was poor and kept your borrowed money,
You sulked and let our blood go cold and thin.'

I would not sit and hear a woman say -
'What do you want with me, poor child of sin;
Where did you hide your face for ten long years -
The face I missed beside my dying bed?'
Not till my Spirit's naked and ashamed,
And free of flesh, would I approach the dead.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.