"Questioned at the end"

Questioned at the end, "Why?"

"I had to cry, I had to cry—
I had to cry out loud before I died.
My lies of all my life meant nothing
By the receding tide.
So I had to try, I had to— for myself
and for what little of pride I had left.
I was so bitter. I was so unkind.
But at the last—there was nothing
I could hide, not in that whitening light.
And so I cried and I cried, to the sky,
To the summerwind, to Death and to Life.
But what became of my cries?
Does anyone even know that I died?"

Ex Tempore L
M.M. — 06-Jun-2013