a remembrance ceremony

 

A Celebration Of Life

a person dies,

we can feel empty,

a connection severed,

so that we can no longer

dance to the warmth and knowing 

of each others' eyes,

no longer share a laugh,

the companionship of travelers

who huddle together and share moments,

for however brief a time the universe allows,

when the charge no longer is enough

to power the enduring,

a circuit breaks,

and the reel with us together

plays out and ends,

what do we do then?

besides rage at loss

and the death of the light?

often we are held in the faith of religion

and console ourselves with belief in the persistence, somehow,

of the unique self we love so much,

and imagine it much the same, just removed from us,

I am more drawn to meeting death

with a celebration of life, well-lived,

we may be challenged by any look forward,

for the one we loved can no longer be here with us,

so, instead, we should look back

and celebrate who they were

while they had the calling, the energy,

to work wonders with their life,

when we celebrate who they were, what they did,

we look deep into their eyes

and see them for the glory

they were able to release unto others

with the fullness of who they were,

a death is a loss, but it can also be a celebration

of the gains each day of their life

created, built, connected,

our relationships then stay true to who they were

and to who they helped us to become.

by Henry H. Walker

February 16, ‘26