In Memoriam: Pope John Paul II

In his poem Roman Triptych (2003), Pope John Paul II wrote:

The End is as invisible as the Beginning.
The universe came forth from the Word,
and returns to the Word....
And so the generations pass--
Naked they come into the world, and naked they return
to the earth from which they were formed.
"From dust you came, and to dust you shall return";
What had shape, is now shapeless.
What was alive is now dead.
What was beautiful is now the ugliness of decay.
And yet, I do not altogether die,
What is indestructible in me remains!...
What is imperishable in me
now stands face to face before Him Who Is.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon him.