One of Us -- Wendell Berry

One of Us  by Wendell Berry  Must another poor body, brought to its rest at last, be made the occasion of yet another sermon? Have we nothing to say of the dead that is not a dull mortal lesson to the living, our praise of Heaven blunted by this craven blaming of the earth? We must go with the body to the dark grave, and there at the edge turn back together—it is all that we can do—remembering her as she is now in our minds forever: how she gathered the chicks into her apron before the storm, and tossed the turkey hen over the fence, so that the little ones followed, peeping, out of the tall grass, safe from the lurking snake; how she was one of us, here with us, who is now gone.