If death were the end,

the silent swallower of love,

then love would not be as it is,

namely, the great transformer.

Love would not reappear,

or heal our hurts as it does,

over and over.

Love would not be the one supreme force

which we unceasingly thirst and hunger after

and which alone safely directs our course.

Love would not rise in us

With its strong wings of joy

to carry our burdens, and make light our journey.

No, if death were the end

we would not know love.

But, since death is the beginning of a new love

then, all we have to learn and embody

is how love plays its game of hide and seek,

and keep hope in love, that it will always return.

                                                              c   by Marion S. Duff 1985