cremation at the ends of the earth

the bodies are in piles
pits of earth and empty eyes
bones show curved ends
where joints once connected
nerves delicately strung throughout
light flash thought and reaction
there lives tenderness and rage and irrationality
all hope, history and recollection
skill, knowledge
all these things once lived within
this ash grey rubble
of tattered and broken
not even stench
only dust

no stories
no breath or mind to tell them
no listening

silence scattered