Sunday Mourning

By I.M. Ulysses

Joy turned to ashes
On this sunny day
When news had arrived
That she'd passed away

Taken last eve
From this world full of pain
Our beloved friend
Could no longer remain

Why did You take her
Oh Lord up above
This woman who had
In her heart so much love

I didn't know her
A few years ago
This friend of my wife
And her mother also

But during these months
She made my life whole
And I found a spirit
That was better than gold

And now she is gone
Though I cannot say why
As we prayed for months
That she wouldn't die

Alone in my thoughts
I pass the day long
Wondering what
I might have done wrong

Eloi, Eloi
Lama sabachthani?
Cried out our dear Saviour
When He felt abandoned

So do I now
As I look for an answer
To the riddle of death
That brought on her cancer

You gave her to us, Lord
Till her race had been run
And then she departed
When her work was done

No more does she suffer
She's freed from this place
Leaving behind
What time can't erase

A memory, a thought
Of a woman so rare
Who smiled every day
Though death was quite near

Enjoy now your victory
Oh Death, that you've won
But know that one day
It will all be undone

The Great Day is coming
When Life reigns supreme
And Jesus returns
To be King of Kings

No more of this torment
The Lord will demand
Who rose from the dead
By Holy Command

On this my hope rests
As I write these last words
About this kind woman
And the rest that she's earned

As I think of her now
I know I was blessed
To have been a friend
Of this lady who's missed

Sleep now our dear friend
Let your spirit take flight
Away from Earth's troubles
As day turns to night.

One day we shall meet
In the future unborn
But right now we weep
On this Sunday, mourn.

For our beloved friend, Beverley Shakes,
who died of cancer on May 10th, 2014.
Gone, but never forgotten.
Alive in our hearts, now and forever.


Marion, my mother-in-law, and Beverley
after the wedding ceremony on Sept. 29, 2012
 at Queenston Heights, ON




 Myself, Beverley, and my mother-in-law,
together at the Ice Caves at Crystal Beach on
Feb. 17, 2014