Remember when we used to sing?
We can sing no longer.
The death of this small animal we loved
is the death of everything.
So much grief I never felt,
even when grief itself
and all grief’s ministers assembled in death’s hall.
It doesn’t matter that it was an animal,
or that this animal was small.
We feel sorrow in two completely different ways—
The death of our friend
And the death of all our friend’s days—
the days when we were glad and could sing.
The death of the one we loved
is the death of everything.