Death Poem

You Had the Gift of Happiness

Author: Nicholas Gordon

You had the gift of happiness,
The unrelenting grace
To see the radiance of life
Within the ruthless face. 
Cancer, heart attacks, and strokes,
Paralysis and pain,
A flood that left you penniless . . .
And still you smiled again. 

It wasn't pure naivete
Or something just not there,
Or, even worse, an inner lie
That said you didn't care. 

It was a certain blessedness
Attained by very few
That let you live within a love
Within the love in you.