The Dead and The Living ©
by
Michael Casey
I first saw a deceased when I was
nine years old ,my father said not
to worry as the dead are the same as
the living , only the laughter
has left them , the sparkle has gone
from their eyes , the worry has
been lifted from their shoulders ,
and their voice has vanished to
eternity .
In paradise the sparkle will return
for it is the twinkle of the
stars , the laughter will return too
for it is the morning breeze and
the turning tides are their sides
shaking with laughter .
I treat the deceased with the same
courtesy as I give to the living ,
though I find the deceased are
always more polite . My father also
had a few words to say about the
living .
He said that the living are only the
caretakers of the soul , yet
they think their existance is
everything , that they know everything
because they experience many things
with their senses .
What the living don't acknowledge is
that their time is short and
when I lay their bodies to rest then
their souls continue without
them , without their strong ,
without their weak , without their
that it is a better place .
Percy the undertaker placed the lid
on the coffin ,the soul was free
THE BEGINNING
**************I wrote this poem in November 1987 on a Sunday on a bus while going to work at StatsMR later part of ACNielsen, I had started to write my first book,
as Pad Webb had suggested
I wanted to have the Poet and Undertaker say something about his role
this comes from The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker
which I was going to call A Nation of Shopkeepers but I thought nobody
would know their History, so I chose the occupations on the street.
this poem I hope brings comfort to people, at this time especially.....
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