One of Us (edited)

Condolences flow like cheap wine
Strong to the tongue but thin on the mind.
They are fleeting words from fleeting friends,
Spoken as quickly as they are forgotten.

Flowers stand as sentinels, ever silent,
A brief reminder that all things fade,
Their petals wilting to lie upon the earth.
We will all have our moment, speak our parting words,
But those words will fall on deafened ears.

Tomorrow I will rise, while you will not.
The sun will crack the darkness,
The wind will blow as it always has—
And it will blow the same,
Even after we’ve met again.

A thousand times I’ll hear your voice in the wind,
A thousand more, I’ll see your ghost in the light.
I must learn to be myself again,
For now I am me,
And no longer one of us.