The angel of the graveyard, staring like a guard,
sitting over here, overseeing the dead,
waiting patiently for each new body,
to be brought to its final resting bed.

People think of angels,
to feel alive since birth,
though this angel can feel them,
dead and deep within the earth.

We are told to think of angel wings,
to feel shelter and comfort,
but this angel uses its wings,
to induce your death and inert.

It sits there with its wings,
overshadowing its own shadows,
it watches directly in confusion,
over the dead tombstone rows.

They take its picture in the day,
feeling attracted to the design of the tomb,
they feel it is a symbol of life and death,
and a feeling of what lies beyond the doom.

People putting down flowers,
and also pictures to weep,
the angel finds them interesting,
the memories people want to keep.

People hate the angel of death,
for everyone says that angel kills you.
But why should we hate it only,
when it is one of angels too?

Let it oversee us and the dead,
for we are all headed somewhere too.
Let it sit there waiting for us,
for we are somehow waiting for it to move.

Photographer: Katie.

Location: Mountain View Cemetery. 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611, USA.

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