At this time of the year we often celebrate joyous things and events. At this stage of the year we often have time of rest and leisure. We have time to ponder and reflect. For some of us this is also a time tinged with sadness. We may have a new loss in our lives. We may remember losses from times past. We may still grieve as we remember. But we also know that the shoots of healing are springing up in the fertile soil of our lives.
Picture: Reflection and remembrance pool at St. Clement’s Galong, NSW.
Remembering Lost Loved Ones Still Present to Us
You were there
now
you are not.
We could speak
to you
hear your voice
see your smile.
These
are now denied to us.
We choke
on the words
we wished
we said to you
or wished
we heard from you.
The good-bye
that may have been.
Sometimes we just feel
an empty sadness
or, a sad emptiness
a hole in our lives
the size of you.
As our throat twitches
and our lips tremble
and our eyes pulse
from the tears spent
a heaviness
descends
upon us.
Our shoulders sag
and our limbs flop.
How can we say
“joy to the world”?
when our world
feels
like a puzzle
with a lost piece
that will never return.
But then we remember
Those wondrous moments
We had together.
The words we did share.
Now
there is a ‘bright sadness’
as someone once said.
We, though we miss you,
are grateful
for those
blessed
precious
priceless moments.
They are etched
in our memories forever
engraved into our hearts.
From these
we keep your life
burning like a sacred presence
before our mind’s eye
and in our heart’s embrace.
You are part of
the life we live
and the person
we have become.
We thank you
for the gift your life
continues to be to us.
Simon C.J. Falk 4 January 2014.
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