Meeting Death At The Door

In his poem, I wanted to recognize the invitation that has been sent to our family.  We are fortunate to have been told ahead…death has made his announcement …he’s on his way! We have been invited to get ready, celebrate life, say our goodbyes to a family member who has had 96 years to live and learn and love in this temporary place we call home.  When that moment comes, may she turn to the light confidently and find her way back to her real home!

I feel death knocking at the door
The raven knows whose turn it is to go
Or is it to come
Come back to home again

Listen
The trees, the wind, the grasses all know
When a life is born
And
When it returns back to the flow

Yet we could also know
If we cared to see
To hear
To feel

The subtle changes in the wind
The way her breath moves in an out
The way her smile leads with a trail of doubt

When the eyes long to be set free
When food and life have lost their taste
When her connections here seem to be misplaced

We can know the time is coming and prepare
Celebrate her life, rejoice, not despair
Or
We can send her away someplace else
Pretend that this life here will never end
Behind walls and curtains where others alike
Have been sent to hide death out of sight

Death laughs at our childish ways
There are no walls, no cells to keep him at bay
Birth and death…they know just how to play
One leads, the other follows and then they reverse