Standing By

About a funeral that hasn't happened yet (sometimes I think some effed-up things)

"Standing By"

 

I wonder

How it is going to be

When I am standing by

Your graveside,

Watching the mahogany descend

Into the moist ground,

The frosty droplets of dew

Still fluid and shimmering

On the fast-retreating lid.

Will I be mistaken for stone,

Stoic in the extreme,

No visible hints of emotion

On my rain-spattered face?

Or will I be wailing,

Tears rushing like the NIle

As I lose my footing

On the slippery grass,

My body crashing down besides

The opening of the wound

That will soon close around you,

Leave myself lying there

In a pool of liquid grief?

If I were one who prayed

I would pray to not be happy

As I am standing by

That somber day,

As my thoughts have been

Turned to this setting of late.

For you must know

I do truly care after my fashion,

The showing of which

I tend towards neglecting, I know,

And which you yourself

Have never made easy.

Yet at the end

I will be there

No matter the state of mind,

Watching the slow rays of

The setting sun as they light upon

The fac of the marble

As I am vigilantly

Standing by.

Reviews

[Ieuan Cilgwri]

Scott - I love the way your words are delicate but at the same time hard and clearly defined as agate. I love the feeling of musing, no doubt we all think about death and the moving on of loved ones and I thought you stuck several chords here.

"Will I be mistaken for stone,

Stoic in the extreme,

No visible hints of emotion

On my rain-spattered face?"

I thought this stood out for me, from amongst the general excellence of the piece. Great to read your work.

Ieuan

[Bear]

what a moving piece of poetry!! This must be one of the reasons why my family has opted for cremation; we let one another know how much we care day by day and once we're no longer breathing just let us go to ashes and have them disposed of so that no earth is taken in order to house a coffin when there's so little clear earth left. Yes, your poem did bring tears to my eyes, it was that precise and emotionally written.
Sallie Bear