EMPTY SEATS AT A CLASS REUNION.


It took a death to knock some sense
To wake us up to our present tense
Grim reaper stay your hand
Grant us time to make amend

Old debts to repay
Before the end of day
Fractured friendships to mend
Inflicted insults and injuries to repent

Our life like a musical chair in reverse
When the music stops, there’s one less of us
The game ends, there’s the empty seat
The last one of us has made his exit


Yahya Sofi Hussain
First published in April 2006 in Dumex's HOUSECALL