Last stop
church pews
sunlight streaming
through stained glass windows
wooden casket
for a metal maker
lost that tug-o-war
Death pulled harder.
Now he is all dressed up
frozen in Sunday best
and this tiny hamlet is quite.
Organ playing notes of
harmony and peace
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
The aroma of lilies and carnations
mixes with hymnals and southern grace.
I’m reverently dreaming
saying my condolence-laced farewell
until my childhood begins filmstrip streaming
year by year
through that glass window above.
The smell of her scented soap
my grandmother’s knobbed fingers
bespeaking years of toil
now stroke my hair.
I see skinned knees
ice cream making
Sunday dinners
gym floor basketball
the town pool I once thought was the ocean
chicken fried food
okra on the stalk.
Oh those summer drenched days
I see my sister
long gone from this world
laughing at me from a distance
turning the knob of her transistor radio.
My tears flowing like the Red Sea,
I can touch those colored rays before me,
but I can never reclaim them
they skirt beyond the edges of the casket
masquerading behind the roses and death lilies.
My childhood tree swing
disappears into the clouds
the Reverend beckons us
in true, slow Southern style,
“Be ready folks,” but he says it
much more poetic like.
Service ends,
Pink Floyd takes over
Comfortably Numb
spills over church stereo.
I walk forward to say
another goodbye
those church bells ringing
and Time gallantly swinging.
That’s very sad, not least because it’s so evocative it can’t help but bring someone back to their own experience.
Oh yes it does, then you start going down that road and dealing with all that emotion. Thanks so much for reading.
I enjoyed your poem. It made an impact on my own feelings of loss. “I see my sister
long gone from this world
laughing at me from a distance
turning the knob of her transistor radio.” This hit a personal note. Other parts did as well. Nicely done.
Thank you so much. Loss has a way of unraveling and leading us back to those who have gone before. I had not expected to be hit with it in such a large dose at my friend’s recent funeral but there it was….
This really hits home with me. You’ve captured the emotions and visions that swirl around ones mind at a funeral. Sad, yet beautiful.
Thank you. It was all there and just flooding back to me…a lot like being caught in a tidal wave…a great deal of loss but the memories are so beautiful.
Goodbyes can make us say hello again to a lot of old memories. My condolences to you, and thanks for sharing your experience in this poignant poem. 🙂
Thank you. That is so true especially when we make those trips back home.
Very powerfully written and emotional – capturing that array of emotions and helplessness. Memories always a comfort at such times.
Yes they are, a true help in meeting the sadness. Thank you, Annika.
Beautifully written! Odd how memories wash over us at the least expected times. Many condolences on your loss.
Thank you, Debbie. Yes memories can sometimes overwhelm us at times when we are so vulnerable.