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Friday, January 14, 2011

Chrysalis

Too damn many people I know have died this year. In the span of a week I've already attended two funerals for friends of family, and at the end of the month my friend Jeannie is going to bury her mother-in-law.

Not really knowing what to say about these deaths, but feeling the need to say something, I wrote this. It just kind of came to me this afternoon while I was putting dishes away. I don't even know if it's any good, but it made me feel better after having written it.


CHRYSALIS

To all things there is a season
Even trials which, for no reason,
Seem to strike us down without remorse;

And when our time has run its course
We must remember, through our fears
That we are allocated only years.

We are born into this world
Larval, incomplete, and furled
With no knowledge of what awaits us soon;

And then we crawl into cocoons
Of wood and earth, and thence to die
While all around us, mourners ask God why.

In our rebirth, they cannot see
Our souls borne into eternity
As we emerge from our chrysalis.

And so, my love, I tell you this:
As from eternal grace hope springs
A butterfly begins to spread its wings.

4 comments:

  1. i came here because of your comment on North's post (GunBlogBlackList). your poem is lovely. if i ever find myself in a situation where i must give a eulogy (fingers crossed that i never do) - may i have your permission to use your poem, crediting you of course!

    i find the words very soothing and comforting and i love that it is filled with hope and an afterlife...one that we can't possibly know until we emerge from our chrysalis on the other side.

    i hope that my friend North comes and reads this...i think it will give him great comfort.

    kymber

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  2. may i have your permission to use your poem


    Of course, of course! Make copies, read it aloud, send it as a card. 

    I believe I even have a version of this in a PDF with butterfly clip art  floating around my computer. Would you be interested if I made that available?

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  3.  i would love your pdf version...thank you so much for the permission.

    "of whom much is given, much is expected"...from the show Millenium. and i truly believe that. we must live up to what is expected of us. i think that you are doing a brilliant job!

    thank you very much. i am soooo following you now that i have found you. teehee.

    your very new friend,
    kymber

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  4. It took me far too long to get this done, but I think you'll like the results. I hope they are worth the wait.

    Enjoy.

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