Funeral
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How fragile are the gossamer threads of life
that tie us to this earthly realm?
A single strand has snapped and my world has unravelled.
For you have broken free of your earthly bounds
Dear friend,
I know it has been two years now since you left.
I know I’ve had two years to let go, or move on, or to heal.
But the truth it’s that some scars are uglier than the wounds.
No matter the time, it was cold
And the wind drew heavy breaths
No matter how young, that day we were old
Enough to watch the mess
In their red and blackthe mourners are moving their bodiesto the sound of happy dirges.The men and women in cloth gyrate their waiststo the rhythm and melodies made for the occasion.Onlookers applaud with smiling facesWhile the others respond in c
Even though the sky weeps with us today, tomorrow shares the warmth of sunshine and friendship, healing our sorrows in the light of rainbows.
The first thing my mother did,
when a boy broke my heart,
was open the windows.
She said that
letting in the air, and
erasing his smell
I stand in a place that I've been once before,
A garden of sadness that's watered with tears,
A plot in the earth where I made an exchange:
I buried my hopes and gave birth to my fears
-
Today is the worst day.
I knew it would be.
My last goodbye to you
Was yesterday
And I look back
To see what I missed
A call, a text, a post
Should I have
Called you, texted, replied?
Life is so unsettled
Oftimes it is this way
Goodbyes are the hardest
Of things we have to say
-
And as we get older
Our love ones gather near
Goodbyes become harder
But time together dear
It's been almost a year
That's three-hundred-sixty-five days
since the last time I saw you
Since the last time you had life inside you.
I remember the wires, the hoses, the machines
Lead boots stomp,
Dust landing on nothing,
And everything all at once,
Intertwined pieces of self,
No longer connected at the seams,
Unravelling persona,
Cracking through shaky wooden beams,
Wheels bearing stiffly on a frozen road,shoes clatter softly on fallen snow,a veil of black covers swollen eyes.
Would anyone care if I dropped off the earth,
Would anyone shed a tear?
Several sobs, a few gasps, some chairs at my funeral,
Then I'm just simply not here.
Would anyone care if I ended my life,
In the stories,
Funerals are on dark and dreary days,
Full of falling rain and fraught with cold.
Or,
They’re too pretty,
While the whole world remains silent,
an ageless man plays proudly.
Mourning souls gather together,
when seven load their rifles.
She wore blue on her wedding day.
Blue as the sky
she looked up at when she
couldn’t believe her luck when they met.
Blue as his eyes
If I were to write you a eulogy
I would start by saying
You are not dead
I still see you in the mirror
In the smile lines painted
permanently onto my face
I carry you in the baggage under my eyes
I thought about you then
I wanted to fight for you
I didn't want it to end
I thought about you then
I wondered how you were doing,
I meant to call,
to tell you that I missed you
She wore it to his funeral,
But it’s also the aura of her soul.
It’s murder in cold blood; she stabbed him 27 times.
It’s the colour of hearts breaking apart,
The colour of death and imperfection.
They stand shoulder to shouder
Forming a circle around the casket
Heads bowed in prayer
His daughter, the smallest of all
Only wanting the return of his life
Everyone there contains grief
Wailing heard through an amplified tshauv queej,
And constant beat of the drums.
Through the quick bangs,
Arrives the light rum.
For all men to drink,
To feel drunk to the brink.
A woman
Tall, intelligent, and free
Not only took care of herself
But took care of me
Eighteen kids
And a legacy left behind
A scratch in a casket is not something you would expect.With the meaning attached, you think someone would have checkedBut with you I expected nothing else.A public flaw presented beautifully.You did just the same.Wore your flaws beautiful and pro
When memory calls upon me
I sit to remember
Joyous or Melancholy
Awake or in slumber
The sights I have seen
The things I have known
The people I’ve loved
Even though some are gone
christ chose to lift her at this time,
"To die is better than to live,"
is written in the Book of Life.
Hold your breath
Make your peace
This radio has fallen silent
This newsreporter's caught speechless
I don't feel this pain
When I'm not breathing
We just fall apart
The cold, unforgiving bleachers
Sat stoically that day,
Catching tears as they dripped.
An endless slideshow played,
Showing a joyful boy
Of only 10.
Family sits around the fire,
faces covered in pain.
I look up at the sky,
to see acid rain.
It's taking her down,
angel crown being stolen,
crown.
There is no fun in funeral.
He moved here for people like me
From an old place called Italy
But never lost sight of his family
And wanted them to see what he had
He didn’t want them to be sad
He had a son
Only one
And when the tears come rushing out
They find their way down to the ground
Upon the tombstone you’ll forever lay
If only you were able to stay
Within the cycle of life
Soul filled with mourn
imagine
waking up and getting out of bed, you figured that the suicide dream you had felt all to real.
You go find your mom, she's fixing breakfast you try talking to her but you realize she's ignoring you
The clergy plays their swan song
You cry out it's all wrong
No one notices over their song
Leather skin the casket holds
The corpse didn't even get to see twelve years old
My funeral was empty, my gravestone was bare
The flowers that were meant for my mourning, were never there
What does it mean to stand tall, to obey, to follow in the line of power?
One head, two, three and four. That is all I see, another body to place on the chess board.
I watch from my seat as the crowd files in
The widow and children sobbing with grief
They knew the end was near, that you were sick, yet still it's a shock
To the most important people you knew, I'm a stranger
Sometimes I wonder
If this daydream will ever end
Will I ever wake up from this endless nightmare
Will the torture cease to haunt me
And wake me in my sleep
A life spent in a dream
His casket is lifted,
As the preacher finishes his last line
Of a soldier's remembrance.
At the age of 23.
His father to never see his son again.
His mother to never see her baby again.
The ending
The final scene
Her funeral.
They walk black by black
Shades of grey tear raindrops
They echoe silently, silently
One grenade to another
One buy one
The march hand by hand
I smell the burning image of heartsThis day I watch everyone walkA line, into perfection of solitudeI never knew feelings of Ice and Tea
I was their, but at the time, wasn't
Looking upon my cold, pale body of the open casket.
My blonde hair was straightened
Cascading down my back
Eyes shut, and lips glossy
Shot twice in the chest
A smile,
A wave,
Worthwhile?
Mama always said be brave,
But Mama's gone away,
Sleeping forever now,
And my worlds gone astray.
I mask the pain with a bow,
A courtsey little known,
The doctors knew with her lips laced, she would stay true. As they had paced, her eyes had raced. Holding her hand, by now I'd faced this isn't band. If she didn't land in that sudden way; only if it's banned.
Rest in peace grandma Joanne,
You'll be remembered by every woman and man.
You painted your past and your dreams,
You sewed quilts at their seams,
You helped the poor and healed the sick,
My heart beats fastAs the tears cascade downStaining my paperWith utter disappointmentFrom shattered hope.
When death bells toll
And a soul flees the earth
Cries are released to the skies
Lilies given to the tearful
This leaves a sour taste in my mouth, causes my eyes to welt, and plummets my stomach into a free-fall. I tried everything I could but it wasn’t enough.
One day, I will cease to exist. I will be neither here nor there. I won't be ME. The notion that everyday Oblivion will seek ME, and welcome ME, Scares ME. What happens when I'm gone? Will anyone care? Will anyone notice?
Driving into town to see him lie,
To see him in peace and to say goodbye,
Sunnyside is not so sunny.
Standing in a lush green field,
Dressed in black with tears that refuse to yield,
The icy wind peels back your outer core
Unprotected; as you were from the moment
The contractions won and you tasted
Bitter, bloody air. You close the door.
Turn, and face the face of pity. Snarl at it.
Two figures, black and shadowy Bundled up for their snowy hikeWalk in silence Only broken by the pattering of a stray’s pawsIn icy slush
Like a funeral in an hour glass,you wonder, how slow can time pass?Soon the sane will dissipatefulfilling the end you anticipate,but not soon enough.End? I call your bluff!This will go on forever.
It doesn't seem like much,
but it's been a lot.
I've seen you a million moments,
but it doesn't seem so true.
Ijust wish for one more moment with you.
Amillion goes by so fast,
Spreading onwards for miles under heavenly blue skiesTall, majestic trees and endless, emerald grassDelightedly accentuated with graceful flowersVibrant beryls, vivacious browns, vivid orbs of beauty
Say morbid things
They’re black silk
Fill us with them
The cold began to get to us
Sucking stubble
What could possibly be said to comfort those left behind?
Everyone clings to thoughts of their own.
But what would she actually say to those in this moment?
You know she did not agree.
I sank into my chair as the man on t.v. spoke of a thunderstorm watch.
I wondered about the funeral.
I wondered if the people were running for cover,
or if they let the rain mix with their tears.
Darkness growing;
Fed by her tears.
Flooding her cheeks,
Mascara and eyeliner
Run; streaked.
The small ruddy church slouches in the town square.
I am seven trapped within the musky, confining walls;
my legs swing haplessly, as I sit upon the gaudy distorted pew.
Life is not so easy now that you are gone
I cry every night for I am not as strong
I wish you were still here with me right now
But I know it is better that you flew up through the clouds
Tears fall like rain on a deathly still face,
There’s no hope for her now, she’s in a much better place:
A place with no sorrow, a place with no pain
Still they clench her hand tighter, scream “Wake up!” in vain,
The mother weeps
The father stares on
Brother tries fists clenched
He has to stay strong
Sister wails, she hasn’t stopped
Bishop says many things
But none are heard by the grieving family
