Our Departed Friend

Our departed friend

“We’ve come to remember our dear departed friend,” the celebrant says,
But do we really know how he spent his days?
Was there someone else behind the mask,
A secret life, a hidden past?
We do not know of demons fought,
Hidden fears, or shame brought,
Secret liaisons, who can say?
Darkest moments kept hidden away.
But deep down we know that we too have regrets,
Errors of judgement, lies, failures, fiascos, debts,
Too many to mention, and painful to recall,
They haunt us still like an unsafe wall.
We hope they will remain unseen, unknown,
And be buried with us, and left alone,
For no one has a faultless story,
And yet we hope one day to rise in glory.
Trusting in the Man on the Tree,
Who hung there for you and me.
Offering the great get-clean,
He lived the best life there’s ever been.