graduation poem

full of tears
within this lowly grave a conqueror lies
a bird sang
never in all my life
in and of itself
i gazed upon the glorious sky
tripping up, falling down
she limps with halting painful pace
i have come into the desert because my soul is athirst
she has a clear, wind-sheltered loveliness
eighty years have passed, and more
better than granite
all those treasures that lie
do you think, my boy, when i put my arms around you