In Death He Lives

Funny how we are so ill prepared for death.

In Death He Lives

The blow was cruel,

bludgeoning you

when already felled.

I felt the theft

of Uncle John

tear the last flesh from you

and I was too far away

to hold your tears.

Seventy-one years of love

your heart bled

with wet pain,

cheeks soaked

in the sad acidic sting of loss.

The cloak of rage and disappointment

pulled close across your breast

as grief gripped your heart

in such a cold and callous calling.

But my Angel

is not death our only truth,

our one certain destination?

Should we not cast-out

dismay and disbelief and

celebrate the long giving nature

of your much beloved patriarch?

04/05/13

Reviews

[Pragya Saxena]

A fabulous read and write ! :D
Emotions and feelings s brilliantly captured!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you so much Pragya.

[redflutterby]

The one sure thing in life is we all will die. Hopefully the moments of happiness and laughter exceed the heartache we experience. Wonderful poem John.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thanks A.M.S........

[Leslie Philibert]

quinnfinn has got it exactly right, an honourable, noble write for your relative....

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Leslie, Death is such a predicatable state of being we just don't know where it is on our schedules!

[quinfinn]

my father passed in 2006. his message was the same message i would convey to my loved ones..."do not mourn my passing, rather, celebrate my life" i don't think i have ever heard a less selfish request, and i will be proud to make that my epitaph....awesome poem, john

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Quin. It is something I have learned which saves unessessary pain. We are taught we must mourne. Why? if the death is someone taken early certainly there must be grief but concentratijhng on the beauty someone broufght in life is a far more healing emotional response.

[quinfinn]

precisely my sentiments!

[SHEEMA HUQ]

A sad poignant tribute, superb descriptions, great work

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Sheema

[Keith LaFountaine]

Hey John. I love the contrasting themes of love and loss. As someone who's experienced quite a lot of loss in his life, I can relate to your words quite a bit. They certainly evoked a lot of memories.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Hi Keith, thank you. I hope the memories are not too painful these days.

[Emerald Seas]

An excellent writing. It isn't that death is unexpected, it is the emotional attachment that we have invested in each other that is hard to let go of in the passing. It takes time...

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I understand about the emotional attachment but I think we can learn to celebrate what we were given not what we no longer have. Thank you QSS.

[Emerald Seas]

True. I think we need to do both in order to properly move on and not have loss linger in our minds. You can tell someone not to mourn, but rather celebrate the gift. However, I think people still will mourn the loss initially unless they have had time through something like dealing with a chronic disease to process everything. Everyone deals with it differently. :)

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

The irony in this piece runs cold within me, a most descriptive and elegant piece, well done, good read.

[Rhianne Ney]

The title was irony, hehe
I loved the flow and rhythm of this piece and I think you were able to express the feelings thoroughly. (:

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Many thanks Rhianne

[Rhianne Ney]

(: you're welcome