Wait Listed

A friend passed on – not someone close
But someone I adored.
A service in her honor
I would never have ignored.

So when I heard, belatedly,
That there had been one planned,
In three days’ time, I reached out
To the person in command.

Explaining in an email
That I wanted to attend,
I thought for sure an invitation
She would thus extend.

Instead, in her reply she wrote
That there was just no room.
She’d add me to the wait list
With some others, I presume.

If she who’s being honored
Were alive, there is no doubt,
There’s no way anybody
Wanting in would be left out.

I understand a wait list
Must be started on occasion,
But not when someone’s death
Is factored into the equation.