THE DASH POEM

I read of a man who stood to speak at a funeral of a friend,
He referred to the dates on the tombstone from beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke,
of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For the dash represents all the time they spent,
alive on earth and now only those who loved them,
know what the little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard,
are these things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much
time is left that can still be rearranged.

To be less quick to anger and show appreciation,
more and love the people in our lives,
like we'd never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often,
wear a smile, remembering that this special dash,
might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read,
with your life's actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things
they say about how you lived your dash?