An Old Lady Died Today

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This old lady died today,
this old lady she died today.
She wasn't anyone you've heard of,
she was no one that you knew
but this old lady she died today.
Old ladies always start off young,
so many years before our time:
this lady had a half-grown girl and together they sailed abroad.
But on the passage back home, the girl took sick
and before they could cure her disease,
it wrestled the life from her baby right there on the open sea.
A mother said good-bye
and let the ocean take her child.
She memorized the spot on the horizon.
The latitude and longitude were etched upon her heart.
She lived a long time promising
to join her for eternity
when she finished her lifes' journey
just today,
Just today,
this old lady died today.
She wasn't anyone you've heard of,
she was no one that you knew
but this old lady she died today.
Old ladies always start off young,
so many years before our time:
this lady had full-grown sons and a long, long life of accomplishment.
And maybe she kept it her secret
that when her living was done
she would scatter to the crossroads in the waves.
Now the ashes of her body
will marry with the earth.
The wind will drive her dust into the water.
The cycle that has ended
will now begin again-
and children trees will grow from her
and children clouds will breathe from her
and children everywhere are being born
while an old lady died today,
this old lady died today.
She wasn't anyone you've heard of,
she was no one that you knew but this
old lady she died today.

[Inspired by an April 21,1988 obituary published in the Chicago Tribune.]