On the Death of Friends in Childhood

[HARUMI HERNANDEZ]

On the Death of Friends in Childhood
BY DONALD JUSTICE


We shall not ever meet them bearded in heaven,
Nor sunning themselves among the bald of hell;
If anywhere, in the deserted schoolyard at twilight,
Forming a ring, perhaps, or joining hands
In games whose very names we have forgotten.
Come, memory, let us seek them there in the shadows.