Wednesday, 26 November 2025

The Dead and The Living by Michael Casey

The Dead and The Living

I wrote this in Nov 1987 on a Sunday on the way to work

I remember Keith Jackson saying it was poetic as I corner him

with the snatch I’d written

The Dead and The Living (c)

                           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 existence 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

      beautiful or even ugly temporary form , to where I cannot say , only

      that it is a better place .

      Percy the undertaker placed the lid on the coffin ,the soul was free

                          THE  BEGINNING

 *****

from The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker by Michael Casey  (me)

Chinese Traditional Translation of The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker 08-Sep-2023

by MICHAEL CASEY

Percy the Undertaker in the novel  is a Poet and an Undertaker so in the book it's something he says.  I've reposted it here, in the hope it gives some hope to HK. people. They have been

big readers out of the blue, and now......

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