spirit of mine

[gingerjon]

with help from over the sea
Hope you are feeling better Beryl, John

It’s time for this spirit to leave
No time for you to sit and grieve

A soul too soft its pain to bear
Soon to leave this hemisphere
Is death not the open door - free of pain?
Through which we pass to life again

Keep in line with mine eye
And stay with me till dawn is nigh
We do have but a little while.
So let me see that lovely smile!

If only you could see how truly you
Breathe life into these lungs and my soul too!
I wonder what my final thought will be
What sight will be my eyes last see?

When life’s light turns to endless night
With your eyes no longer in my sight
And death’s calm soothes to end the storm
One last happy smile on my lips will form

For as the sun illumes the eastern skies
I’ll pass through Glory’s gate and walk in Paradise!

 

[jennyann]

John: The words to your poem are laid out so beautifully and really after reading it many times I can say that the words convey something that most of us would like to experience as we go into that everlasting sleep. Death is a part of life and I see it as such.

Miss your poems very much.

 

[Beryl M]

Yes John I am feeling much better thank you. . .

The way I see it death is the great taboo of our culture. We deny it and do our utmost to delay and avoid it. Anti-aging pills and potions are a booming business. And wealthy entrepreneurs have linked with top scientists to extend life to millennia. In the end, though, death is the one experience of life, other than birth, that we all share. We all have to come to terms with it sooner or later

When we see ourselves as parts of the systems of life in this way, our individual deaths become normal events in the larger scheme of things. But why should death be a necessary part of this scheme? There are at least three answers. First, organisms wear out, gradually losing the ability to maintain and repair themselves. We don’t know why, but it may be because death is an essential ingredient of life.

The third reason why death exists is simply that it is part of the mystery of existence. We have seen that all matter appears from the restless energy of the vacuum, and disappears into it again like dust motes in a sunbeam. Viewed in a long enough timeframe, everything, including the universe itself, is ephemeral. We must accept the reality of impermanence and with it the reality of death. As the Buddha put it: “If you want to know the truth of life and death, you must reflect continually on this: There is only one law in the universe that never changes – that all things change, and that all things are impermanent.

Each time I hear the rush of a mountain stream, or the waves crashing on the shore, or my own heartbeat, I hear the sound of impermanence. These changes, these small deaths, are our living links with death. They are death’s pulse, death’s heartbeat, prompting us to let go of all the things we cling to.

So far I’ve avoided the difficult question of whether there is any form of life after death. There is a lot of good evidence from research on near-death experiences, reincarnation and communication with the dead to suggest that the individual spirit or soul does survive death, at least for a time. And many of us feel the presence of departed friends and loved ones. Beyond that, I am not so sure, and not so concerned. Perhaps my soul, or some reflection of it, will return for another life. But if it does, I’m unlikely to be aware of my past lives. And perhaps I will simply be reabsorbed into the Great Spirit, the Mystery of existence.

Admittedly, what I fear is not death itself but the process of dying, the possibility of pain, of loss of control and dignity, of being pushed before I’m ready into the abyss of the unknown. . . .

 

[Sakura]

Very nicely put John, Jenny expressed my sentiment in her post as well. Mo

 

[fellowkev]

Wonderful and insightful words, John. I was quite moved by your poetry.

Though I am quite religious, I still fear death; the unknown; the finality of it all. There is no turning back, and I simply don't want to go!

Kevin

 

[Beryl M]

Before I die, my love, please smile
Let me see the twinkle in your eye.
Your smile will fan my dying breath
And lengthen joy before my death.

Give me the sunshine of your smile.
Wipe off that transient tear.
Laughter will light my weary mile.
I'll go without much fear.

Send me not roses before I go.
I cannot take them yonder there
Play me music soft and slow
Wrap me in fragrance of a prayer.

 

[Kandor]

Very nice John, very, very touching..