I’ve been inspired to write a couple of poems . Two people in the church died recently, both were elderly. The first received a sense of his mother ‘visiting’ him on the day he died – he was most surprised. The second had been a choir singer and the blessing I gave at the end of the service picked up on a way of seeing her free of the pain and experiencing those moments musicians sometimes have when they become at one with the notes. I picture Beethoven’s Ode to Joy as his reaching into the communion of the Triune God and hearing something that he could then translate.
the collection
this woman
who birthed me
came
at the end
to collect me
as if
there had never been
a separation
as if
death was not the wall
I had always thought
it was
as if
when it comes
time for me
to let
out
my
last
breath
those who have been
are welcoming me
as if
what will be
and what has been
meet
to join hands
in the circle
of my
now
now,
if you
command
the science
of this
if you
demand
the science
of this
if you
insist on
the science
of this
don’t ask me
don’t ask me
for I suspect
or even know
what you
‘discover’
in the asking
will
only
take
this
woman
away
from
me
the song
picture her
positioning herself
against the pain
straightening her back
one last time
observe her
listening for the song
this ode to joy
finding her part
entering on the eighth bar*
lean in close
hear her singing
first as admirer playing catch-up
but in no time at all
becoming alive in the notes
traversing that fleeting space
between last breath and first
* eight/waru – resurrection day
