Sadly we had to attend another funeral this week and one of the poems read out was so beautiful I thought I would like to share it. It was written by David Harkins in 1981
You can shed tears that he is gone
Or you can smile because he has lived
You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him
Or you can be full of the love that you shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday
You can remember him and only that he is gone
Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what he would want: Smile, open your eyes, love and go on
It describes so well the emotions that I have in my heart. If only I could express myself better it would save me much heartache. It is such a rare and gifted talent and I sometimes have very poor delivery. Davy had a saying "don't listen to the words, feel the meaning" but sadly some people would rather be over dramatic and misinterpret words or, even worse, think that they heard things that weren't said.
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19 comments:
Love this. Flagmaker
I think I have heard this poem before. Lovely words and they convey so eloquently all that sometimes needs to be said at such difficult times. Hard for you RAC to have to attend a funeral so soon after the loss of your dear husband. A x
OMG - we had this reading at Greg's funeral!!
Very hard to attend another funeral so soon. It just keeps reminding us that life is about living and dying.
It sometimes takes years to go through the grieving - but it is all healing.
Can I use this for my aunt's funeral today that I have to miss?
That must have been a poignant poem for you, so soon after Davy's funeral.
I suppose we do have choices how to react in every situation though.
Maggie X
Nuts in May
"Don't listen to the words, feel the meaning".
Dear old Davy was the prize example of someone who always did just that.
And it was sometimes necessary to apply it to what he was trying to say, wasn't it !!
Is it just coincidence that this poem came into your life as it did? I can just see Davy, smiling down, as you heard it, hard as it might have been. I am copying it to my computer as it is so special, I want to keep it close at hand.
Hugs to you.
What a wise man your Davy was - 'don't listen to the words, feel the meaning'. If only more people did that, what a better world we would all live in.
Yes, it's so profound isn't it Flagmaker?
It was hard Anne, but if I hadn't gone I wouldn't have heard these words. Proof, yet again, that I have to get out into the world no matter how difficiult it is at times.
We have so much in common Addy but that is almost weird!
Sorry I didn't get back to you in time aims, but I really hope that you used the poem at your aunt's funeral.
You said it Maggie, you do have choices and Davy chose to live life to the full after his diagnosis and even when he felt really ill. He was a great example to me.
I know DogLover, his broad Scottish accent and weird logic was sometimes hard to follow wasn't it? Actually even his mother couldn't alwas understand him! But, I've said it before and I dare say I'll say it again, he was a "one off".
I know Carmen, I do think that I was meant to hear it. But also his daughter needed to hear it too. She is having a tough time at the moment.
I must "fess up" here Ellen. The words were not uniquely his. He first heard them at an AA meeting, but they made such impression on that they became one of his many mantras!
Good to hear you again RAC. So right, Davy was a one off. As we say over here "they threw away the mould when he was born".All is well here and Kev ihas two weeks completed in his residential course. Home at week-ends. Thanks Davy!!! Love Pea & Contessa.
Good news about Kev, Pea & Contessa, but I think you had a big hand in this too. Like Davy, you have been an inspiration to so many people. Keep up the good work. I love you both to bits. Ann xx
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