Forget Me Not

 

                                 Forget Me Not

                        For God so loved the world,
                        that he gave his only begotten Son,
                        that whosoever believeth on him
                        should not perish, but have eternal life.
                                                           - John 3:16

            Bay waters a constant gnaw at it peripheries,
            a little more land disappears with every tide
            and with it what remains of those who stayed,
            those who called it home and now their bones
            lie nestled deep in the spongy marsh land,
            their names and dates and final wishes etched
            into stones weathered white and now toppling.
                Forget me not, is all I ask
                I could not ask for more,
                Than to be cherished by my friends
                So loving and so dear.* 
            The stones sink beneath spartina grass
            to mingle with those whose names
            they memorialize for none to see.
            They are the only ones who remain here
            as the Bay steals away another foot or two
            and the lost Island sinks from sight forever.

* A portion of the epitaph of Effie Wilson (January 16, 1880 - October 12, 1893). Holland Island, Maryland.