Is it a coincidence?
I don’t think so
I could make a playlist
first your song
then two of his -
songs of remembrance

What if we could make peace with death and the choices surrounding it? What if we were willing to have a conversation about death? In the last four years, I’ve learned some things about death and dying. They aren’t all easy. And, it’s left me with questions I’m still pondering.

Visitations - those moments when loved ones who have passed make their presence known.
A balloon landing in a tree says "I Miss You Mom"
A timer goes crazy spinning and beeping in the middle of a family dinner
A knick-knack falls to the floor random, sudden like taking a dive

A night of dreams
visitations of the past
moments of angst
disappointments relived
I feel the emotions
I've been in the stories

Mom
our relationship
​​​​​​​complicated at times
but mostly just love
Over the years
you got better at saying it

The fog has descended
deep darkness
overrides my soul
the spark is missing
the daydreams
no longer hold any light

Here's to the dead *
Honoring those
who have gone before
To my mother
who taught me commitment
and dedication

Those days
when grief wanders in
like the tendrils of fog
in the river valley
slowly engulfing
my heart and mind

Slipping behind
wandering off on my own path
letting it all go
I wander this foggy path
going nowhere
not caring
just being
no beginning
no end
tears ride
at the edges

What happens when a life is filled with death
when the blanket of grief lays over our days
when the sun no longer shines
and the waters flow continuously

What happens when we surrender
sleep when sleep wants to come
quit trying to force it into a container
move when we want to move
stop the incessant need to produce

cease the endless struggle
slip slowly into slumber
sit silently in surrender
sing songs of celebration