Stepping Around Graves

I visited a cemetery today

and it occurred to me

that it was pointless to try to step around the graves.

There are graves everywhere.

Even where you can't see them,
there are bodies underfoot.

They built a freeway over where Toto was buried.

They built condos over where so many people were buried.

They've built so much over so many graves.

You can't avoid them.

The spirits are everywhere.

Their bones are everywhere.

And sure,
if you see a fresh mound unearthed,
walk around it and not atop it.

But the world is overcrowded. 

The ground is overcrowded. 

Our dead are everywhere. 

We're stepping on them all day,
every day,
and we don't even know it.

So walk softly, but do not avoid walking.

Walk where you want, but know what lies beneath

and which souls you tread upon.

Those souls
are always
under your soles.