1. We count his breaths and tally them
As the night with darkness collides

2. If life's departure exhausts him
Blood trickles down from his temples

3. A chest as restless as the tide
Death's legions within it reside

4. Were he to rise, heeding our call
Or sleep, hushed by our soft tread

5. Hope starts, fretting his sleep so long
As yearning and ennui take their toll

6. Our lingering fear of his silence
Like steeds our hopes cannot stem

7. We left him, dead, in his prime
Asleep, though aged and eyes dim

8. His smile in death seems to say
He smiles like a dove about to fly