Tragic loss and photo memories
When in mourning, time passes fast, time passes slow.Are pictures supposed to comfort the yearning?Photos capture static joybut in loss they bring no easing. She is gone, will time spinand stir a mind to heal.And gather strength no one should needaching for a soul that crossed the mortal veil. Her pictures surprise your eye with […]
When Three Months Became Five Years
Some stories return to you over time. Not all at once, but quietly, sometimes years later, after life has given you more experiences and unique way of understanding them. This is one of those stories. I first heard it nearly fifty years ago, when I was a young mother juggling several part-time jobs. One of those jobs involved interviewing family members of recently deceased elderly individuals for a Department of Health study about quality of life near the end of life. Each interview began the same way. I would receive a death certificate, locate the next of kin, and ask questions
Please don’t tilt your head
Please don’t tilt your headand ask us if we’re okay. His heart has stopped beating.His body is starting to decay.No words can make that easier. He was here. And then suddenly,he was not. We don’t want to forget himor accept this, not today.We still can’t quite believehe’s really gone away. Danny, we are angry with you.Your life should not have stopped like this.Too much to live for,so much left to come. But nowyou will never see another rising sun. Your eyes are closed now,the hurt beyond repair.You are gone. But we will make sureyour memory lives on.Through laughter and music,we’ll speak
Tomorrow needs to come
Each day I look. Look beyond the clouds, the horizon and into the invisible space between today and tomorrow. But, even though I squint and look as hard as I can, I never see you. There’s no sign of your soul, your energy, the warmth from within you. You are gone, your soul dissolved into tomorrow, far beyond my reach. Yet, I see you everywhere. Your presence feels near, like a cloak around my shouldersdragging me down, keeping a hold. I want to break free, from the hold of your soul. In the darkness, our shadows wrestle.I rip off your hold.
