Spoon you in and spoon you out
The big dipper as a ladle –
When first you begin
The confines of a cradle –
And
After the feast (of a lifetime)
A last chance
For applause,
For deeds in earthly cause
To be preserved
Or lost in time
Immortalized
By poets rhyme
Hearing the list once,
Maybe twice,
Some remark
With no remark at all
Others, very nice,
Hearing the verdict
One last walk
With bread and basket
The departing thought
With flesh in casket –
If but for time
And knowing how short
Perhaps a better report
The judge and jury
Of life's court,
A moral
To all who have been ladled,
Never to escape the test –
Remember time,
Never take, only give the best –
On this case,
You can forever rest.