I have your face up on my wall
It's smiling down on me..
I tried, I did, to catch your fall,
but that was not to be.
Dear friend, I miss your laughter,
I even miss your pain,
How I would give anything
to see you here again.
And tho your pain was great,
You never really shared,
Caught up in the illusion,
it was yours alone to bare.
It's been sometime since you gave up,
and let the darkness win.
Yet my eyes do wander still,
to the picture of your grin.
I always thought your hope was strong,
and you would make it thru,
How sad to find that I was wrong,
and nothing could I do.
Though these words inadequate,
Somehow I hope you know,
I loved you truely my dear friend,
even more than I could show.
I wish my tears were strong enough,
to wash the past away;
and you could waken to the dawn,
of another brite new day.
Forever I will cherish,
the time I spent with you.
And never forget your laugh so fine,
nor the love I held for you.

Karen Smith laid to rest, March 17,1997

Cause whenever I really think of hope
I think how happy I am, that I don't do dope!
It wasn't always like this you see,
That terrible lifestyle was once part of me.
< The pain within I would try to drown
Behind every smile there would be a frown
You wouldn't know by looking today
That once I lived in misery that way.

Today I can hold my head up high,
And look at others right in the eye.
For even when trials and troubles abound,
I can deal with it because of this new life I've found.

There are many helpers along this path,
Soul brothers and sisters, together we laugh.
I no longer live in Death's cyclone,
But instead embrace Life's lovely home.