in our hands

someone you
know
has died.
it's been a while
since you last
saw or talked
to him.
but at one point
in your life
you were day
in day out
kind of friends.
you get the word
third hand,
a friend
telling a friend,
passed down
and told to you
while in line
at the store
for milk and bread.
you are stunned
as well you
should be.
there is guilt,
sadness,
you shake your
head, then go
on and pay for
what is in your
hands. there being
so little
of the world
that we can carry.