No Dark Invitation Poem by William Coyne

The dark shall come on its own.
So please, only dim the light
a bit, that I may yet see
the flowers' blooms in vases
near my present resting place.

The sheet will cover my face
in due time, breathing continue
in livelier passages,
and laughter find other voice.
Let darkness come on its own.

Let the sun shine in your hands, (Emily Dickinson 'To See Her is a Picture')
as you toss dirt on the box,
later lowered in the shade
of a simply marked grave hole,
where dark shall come on its own.

Happy stories, now and then,
pass toward the ears of men,
and women, and small children,
to remember, and forget,
that darkness came on its own.