Attending Funerals
I have attended so many funerals.
I am an authority
On the conduct of the rites,
On the ritual milling around,
On the sequence of prayers and gestures,
On the predictable reading of texts,
On the pathetic search for redemptive anecdotes,
On the hymns which strain to breathe life where
there is none, and
On the vain attempts of preachers and friends
To lift the mourners' spirits.
I have learned from attending funerals
That there is no remedy for grief--
There is no real lifting of the spirit.
There is no cure for the deep black hurt
Searing the souls of the bereaved.
I have learned from attending funerals
That words, sentiments, embraces, handshakes
Seen in truth's clear light
Are near insults, and
Would be true insults
If the true mourners' hearts
Were not on that day flooded with charity
Born of true grief.
--June 12, 2013
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