Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
And that is dying...
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
And that is dying...
Even though I am a strong, independent woman, a pretty tough chick when need be... this poem allows me to bring forth the tears that I know will help deal with this new normal.
4 comments:
Nice poem...sort of says it all. I rather wish I could write that way...or speak that way. Can't, so I will just say.."Well put".
This poem is beautiful. I love it, I have never heard it before. I am sorry to again reference my brother's passing, but I just read through his cards again. I have them in a box. It was nice to read what people had written a few years later with a clear mind.
A friend of ours lost his wife in December. She was 55 also. His youngest son (20) who had severe anxiety died of cardiac arrest Sunday morning. We are off to a second funeral for our friend. What sorrow.
Do you have any advice how we could help him? We have included you and him in our prayers, but really... what were some of the nicest most helpful things you have received this week? We want to give him a hand that will comfort. We want to anticipate needs that we know nothing of yet.
I also thank you for documenting your feelings through all of this. I sometimes fear my dh passing because of age difference. Watching you go through this makes me realize it is inevitable, we never know the time, and it is doable in small, easy bites.
Love you and God be with you!
"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline" 2 Timothy 1:7
The thing that has helped me the most is simply the fact that so many folks showed up. People came by my house and begged me to let them do things. Allowing myself to let people do things helped so much more than I realized it would. The flowers have been such a comfort, especially since I have them all at home with me. So for me, it was having friends stop by and visit and if they had flowers it gave me something to do while I was having them take a seat. Then I realized that I had plenty of food and started asking for everyday things like magazines and sodas it pleased my friends and that pleased me. Does all that even make sense? If my journey can help anyone at all, that would be awesome. Please give my condolences to your friend and gently let him know that folks need to be able to help him.
A lovely poem. One which I will remember. Thank you for sharing.
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