Robert N Hope
Always be a poet, even in prose. ~Charles Baudelaire
DAD'S PASSING
He knows he is dying
Not long for this world
Certain death ends his journey
That nothing remains
No soul, no spirit
No ghost survives
There’ll be no more light
No darkness
No heaven, no hell
Only death
He’ll not see her again
Or us
Never again to feel sun on his back
Or rain
Once his eyes close
There is nothing more
He’ll not see family again
Not those passed
Or those to come
Babies born with his genes
His family survives
As he passes away
He won't know love
Or sorrow
He’ll no longer have to fight for breath
The pain that insults his body
Dies with him
This he knows
With absolute certainty
With all the certainty of
heaven for the Pope
And he is okay with that
He has worked hard
And done his best
And done it well
DYING
Her dying drew us together
Children and grandchildren
Pulled tight to each other
Strengthened and comforted
As preceding months crawled
Now their pace is quickening
And the tie that once bound us
Is passing away
The love of family
Held as spokes to the hub
Falters when the center disappears
And the focus is lost
Grieving at first shared
Becomes an individual battle
As each grieves differently
Shouldering heartache alone
Would that life pause
Giving grief its due
Valuing the months after
As fully as those before
GARY
Another man approaches death
A good man
Hardworking, capable
Honest & moral
I didn't get to know him well enough
But I know some things
I know his character
I know his integrity
These things are evident
Made clear through his work
His faith
And, most of all
His three daughters
I am enriched by knowing all three
And fortunate to be married to one
Through her he shines
Through her I know him
And I am doubly blessed
LAST DAYS
These eighty-seven years from womb
On a merry path to waiting tomb
All the years have made her small
What remains is but to dream
Exhausted as she approaches life’s extreme
With nothing left to stem the fall
Then comes time for peaceful rest
Having faced and met every test
No more to soar the blue sky
In unfamiliar stillness she’s laid
Veiled neath a darkening shade
Wondering how it feels to die
Old age arrived as wintery showers
Drowning the few surviving flowers
Thus she’s drawn into life’s good-night
Her faith has long been shaken
Such comfort is hence forsaken
And God’s peace is turned to fright
She has lived a life with ready smile
Smiling still with one last trial
Before so lovely a heart is done
Now afraid to close her eyes
Not knowing if she see sunrise
There’s no time to grasp the sun
As rivers swell with autumn’s rains
Dampening whatsoever remains
So she floats down life’s stream
To be cast adrift in the vastest ocean
Left there shorn of devotion
Approaching the sea’s quiet dream
Confined these endless hours
Each day erodes her dwindling powers
And alone, she is resigned to sit
Pain pulls and drags her under
With nothing left but to wonder
How can this be it?
The insistent rains are turned to hail
Pushing her every system to fail
Spoiling any remaining daylight
Each new hurt pulls the body under
Sinking, struggling to stave the thunder
That calls her into the endless night
Inactivity makes for meager rest
How can she not be depressed?
Her personality shows the strain
Making grey those few sunbeams
A weary heart that no longer gleams
There is no escaping the rain
She has lost her joyous glow
As failing health elicits snow
Whilst thoughts morph into dreams
Unsure what lies in days ahead
Her heart forever stained by dread
As nightmares turn to silent screams
Keeping tender arms outspread
Bravely facing what lies ahead
Her life has been so full of love
Pain has become her entire world
As all other thoughts are swirled
But for the coo of the mourning dove
Somehow she commands her heart to beat
And stays the body’s final defeat
To battle an unwinnable war
To strive for a place in the sky
As body and mind race to die
Traveling to an unknowable shore
Until then whatever failing life brings
Til that fateful day she dons her wings
And exhaustion yields to a happy tune
When will she reach heaven’s sky?
For surely her spirit can fly so high
Soar above the touch of the moon
At peace, her pain is done
Resting now under a forever sun
A lifetime goes too fast
Whilst her love will forever last