Death's Brief Interlude

I stumbled on a funeral march
whose circuit had been completed
an ebony line lay in repose
as a somber conclave hovered
'neath a starched canopy

Under the patchwork tent
time seemed to stand still
every whimper, every cough
sealed in a hallowed vacuum
unspoken words in dark cavities

Yet, above the fray

The sun continued to migrate
on a never ending journey
lending unwanted balm
divesting the melancholy air
with pulses of regeneration

Sad reposes radiantly transposed
into still life portraits on a colored canvas
dark suits glistened in the afterglow
dilated eyes streamed mercurial watercolors
shades of green and blue

From my distant perch
I exhaled death's vapors
ingested the warm afterglow
quivered in time's brief wake
then felt the sun's renewed pulse