The Dash

   I confess, I love to wander through old cemeteries and look at the inscriptions on headstones.  To me graveyards are such peaceful places, my husband and I used to take our lunch breaks sitting in the cemetery eating our brown bag lunches and just watching the wind in the trees and the birds and squirrels playing there.  Sounds morbid doesn't it, but I find it relaxing and thought provoking. 
   Have you ever looked at the dates on the stones, birth - death, and wondered what happened in the between?  That little ' - ' in the middle inspired a thought I would like to share with you.
                           

                                                   The Dash

 

                                          Life is just a dash -

                                          A small mark scribed

                                            between birth and death.

                                          That space of time allowed

                                            to each of us in which

                                          To grow,

                                          To laugh,

                                          To love and be loved,

                                          To reach upward and

                                             outward,

                                          To touch and be touched,

                                          To accomplish things

                                             both great and small, 

                                          Then, when our dash is finished

                                          And we write no more,

                                          Just what will our dash proclaim?

 

You read inscriptions on those stones such as 'Faithful Friend' or 'Loving Mother' but the more important inscription just might be that little 'dash'.