Poems for DennaRae

Do Not Stand At My Grave

Do not stand at my grave and weep;

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow;

I am the diamond glints on the snow.

I am the sunlight on the ripeded grain;

I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken

In the morning's hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand by my grave and cry.

I am not there; I did not die.

(author unknown)

 

You ask

why I perch

on a jade green mountain?

I laugh

but say nothing

my heart

free

like a peach blossom

in the flowing stream

going by

in the depths

in another world

not among men

Li Po

 

Along time ago I had lived with you

And now we must be going

Separately to be together.

Perhaps I shall be the wind

to blur your smooth waters

So that you do not see your face too much.

Perhaps I shall be the star

To guide your uncertain wings

So that you may have direction in the night.

Perhaps I shall be the fire

To separate your thoughts

So that you do not give up.

Perhaps I shall be the rain

To open up the earth

So that your seed may fall.

Perhaps I shall be the snow

To let your blossoms sleep

So that you may bloom in spring

Perhaps I shall be the stream

To play a song on the rock

So that you are not alone

Perhaps I shall be a new mountain

So that you always have a home.

-Nancy Wood

 

We shall not cease from exploration

and the end of all our exploring

shall be to arrive where we started

and know the place for the first time.

t.s. elliot

 

 

 

Mother of my birth, for how long were we together

in your love and my adoration of your self?

For the shadow of a moment, as I breathed your pain

and you breathed my suffering. As we knew of

shadows in lit rooms that would swallow the light.

Sitting at your bedside I saw your face alive,

but your eyes empty, your breathing labored.

Your sleep was with death. I was alone

with you as when I was young

but now only alone, not with you,

to become alone forever, as I was learning,

watching you become alone.

 

Earth is now your mother, as you were mine, my earth,

my sustenance and my strength,

and now without you I turn to your mother and seek from her that I may meet you again

in rock and stone. Whisper to the stone

I love you. Whisper to the rock, I found you.

Whisper to the earth, Mother, I have found her,

and I am safe and always have been.

 

David Ignatow

Rewritten with Changes by DeniTaree

 

Link to Memorial Page