Hibiscus on the fresh earth

This afternoon I saw something that unsettled me. 

There was a burial of a person in the public cemetery. There were around 12 people there. Around four women were crying - their voices already weak and raw after much crying - as the body was lowered into the ground while two men quickly dumped spades of ground over the casket. The rest of the group just slumped down in the shade of the metal fence that ran alongside the cemetery, hiding from the overpowering afternoon sun. 

The thing that struck me as something different was that those 12 people were the only people there. There were no cars or flowers or groups of people or sad songs as is commonly seen during burial ceremonies. They all wore black clothes but they seemed like they just wanted to bury the body and then go home quickly. I was thinking that it might have been a person who was not thought of well in the community or a criminal thus it seemed no one wanted to come and say their last goodbye.

I walked away and an hour later I came by the cemetery. Everyone had left by then. I saw the place of burial and it was an unmarked grave with just three or four hibiscus flowers heaped together on the fresh earth. That's all. Nothing more. Truly, we came into this world with nothing and we will leave this world with nothing. Blessed is the name of the Lord!!!!!!

The public cemetery was overgrown with grass and a beaten track runs through it