How Can You Not Be Yet Among Us

How Can You Not Be Yet Among Us? (In Memoriam for my Father-In-Law) How can you not be yet among us? You were constant as the Sun, Inevitable as the Moon. Solidity defined you, - or you, it. Everyone knows that nothing is forever. Everyone knows that everything ends. - But knowing is different from believing, And believing leads us by the nose. You advised and accepted, Judged but never condemned Gave willing hand to whomever asked, Led others to lead themselves. How could you not be yet among us? You were the mirror In which we saw our true selves. You the standard Against which we measured them. How do we live without our mirror? How can you not be yet among us? But the Sun keeps on rising and setting, And the Moon illumines the night, And So: You are still here among us, Just somewhere inside - We must look within, To see the mirror now hidden And strive to polish ourselves in its reflections, To shine Constant as the Sun. Inevitable as the Moon.