He knew not where he'd be laid to rest when he entered this world of strife
He'd no idea the earth was round when he began his life
He grew to manhood, pulled his weight and watched the seasons turn
But never wondered if there was more and so he did not learn
That every shelter has its cost and safe's not always best
He played it safe he took no risks and never left the nest
I passed his grave this morning in a weedy churchyard plot
Just off the dusty gravel road, but mourn him I could not
He'd never died as he'd never lived. It's a sad sad thing to say
But no one would have noticed had he lived another day
It did not have to be this way---a life he lived in vain
Had he understood that a life well-lived requires that we know pain
His stone's in the rear view mirror now; I'll not see it again
It's all he leaves behind to prove he's ever really been.
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Definitions be damned, this is a sonnet and a very fine one at that. 