(just so none of you will lock me up as crazy, the context is Franklin, Tennessee, Civil War era. If you don't know about Carry McGavock, you should look her up)
Alone I walk among the shades of grey;
I pass the time conversing with the dead
And relish in the beautiful decay.
No soul but mine could know the thoughts I weigh
Within my heart, or hear the whispers said
Among the halls where walk the shades of grey.
Through pain I kill to save and heal to slay,
But not a single guilty tear is shed
For aiding in the natural decay.
I shroud myself in pious black array
And softly traipse the place where men once bled
Before they walked among the shades of grey.
All others view my pastime with dismay
And think a woman feeble in the head
Who relishes consumption and decay.
Yet someday soon their names will find a way
Into my small, brown book that all men dread
To join the walk among the shades of grey,
Forever clothed in beautiful decay.
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