Sonnet for My Grandmother

I wrote the following poem many years ago after my grandmother died. She meant the world to me:

In memory of Krystyna Markiewicz

Are the gates of heaven a wonder to behold
Worth all the pain and suffering of this world?
Or is death as the unbelievers have foretold,
An end to all existence young or old?
Blank silence echoes my softly spoken question.
Perhaps this stillness is your bleak reply.
And yet my soul rejects this harsh conclusion
As I'll hug your essence to me 'til I die.
For in my life your life has ressurection
And in all people that your spirit touched.
They all remember you with deep affection
And in their memories you're never lost.
When I with tearful eyes your portrait see
I see the goodness I long to be in me.