The Passing
Place me not in a bed at my dying;
_I’d rather a bench by the sea
Or a patch of green grass in a meadow
_Where blossoms rejuven the lea.
Let me draw my last breath to the whisper
_Of breezes aswirl and adrift;
Maybe sigh and then die in the woodlands
_With birdsong bestowing a gift.
Whether passing in sunshine or drizzle,
_I’d offer one final appeal:
To arrive from that flight and then marvel
_At what the Beyond will reveal.
Margaret Brinton has lived in San Diego’s inland valley area for over forty years where she taught and tutored. Her poems have recently been published in California Quarterly and Westward Quarterly and The Lyric with upcoming work in the greeting card industry. She has previously been published in the Penwood Review and many other publications.
Very touching. It reminded me of Pope’s Ode to Solitude somehow, perhaps the love of nature’s company against all solitude.
Beautiful Margaret,
too many of us are shuffled or frog-marched off into a holding facility,
fronted by a Potempkin Facade of a luxury hotel
but which is at best a kind of beige prison with warders
some of whom treat you as pets.
and others as comical burdens,
at worst a kind of lietrally stinking, shrieking gulag
where you are malnourished, drugged and isolated.
Any decent Care Assistant of Manager
(and I have known many)
who dares to engage with
one of that alien category of creaturte a “Resident”
as if he or she were a human being is flagged as deeply suspect by the Central Planners
and generally sent packing.
You remind us of what human beings are and of what decent aging looks like,
warmest regards,
Karen
(former Care Assistant )
You become a person, then a name and in the end just commodity. Longevity is a business, just one more business.
Thanks Leo,
but the game is to make us feel it is inevitable.
It isn’t.
Or only if we slide along.
I have told my family very clearly that I want to die at home,
surrounded by people whom I love and who love me.
Of course I may be ignored but everyone knows that being shuffled off and euthanised was “not “what she would have wanted”. and the very fact of saying this to all and sundry, highlighting the social pressure which prevents informed consent and tries to exact exhausted compliance, and pointing oit the end game; to turn people into things with a view to disposal..puts us all on notice as to where we are all heading unless each oe of us says “no”. Because there are no “Them and Us”.. Its all Us. Poetry is a great part of this,.. this pointing out the hard-wired and supportive links betwen generations , the extraordinarry opreciousness of each human soul and the gift that is self.. i.e true love agape, not appetite.. warmest regards,
Karen
To Leo and To Karen,
Thank you both for adding your thoughts to my poem.
Margaret, how wonderful to contemplate your beautiful thoughts of passing.
Uplifting poem Margaret with lyrical description of natural surroundings evoking the natural nature of death with hope for the future beyond.
Reminds me of the country vet James Herriot. His son carried him as he was dying to view the dales he loved so much.
To Eugenio, Karen, Roy and Gerard
Many thanks for reading and affirming my work. And Gerard, thank you for that beautiful reference to James Herriot’s final breath.
I love this ending.
What a great idea, Margaret. Something like this would be much less dehumanizing than the way many deaths are handled now.
Being presently ensconced in the British countryside, I appreciate this poem all the more, though the desert in its vastness and the battering Atlantic Ocean also show Mother Nature at her most beautiful.
And surrounded by Nature, what better place to contemplate the Hereafter?
Thanks for the read, Margaret?
Thank you, Cynthia and Paul, for your thoughts offered on this topic. I imagine, Paul, that the hills and dales in England are lovely this season.
Another classic Margaret. Lovely. Having been born raised and educated near the ocean so it must be my wish to be there for my final goodbye.
“The Passing” sings its way to the Beyond in lovely metrical fashion, Margaret B. Itself a breath, a sigh, a musical appeal to pass outdoors, when so many may wish so, but be unable to move and without help to do so. Poignant lyric reminder to bring nature, as much as we are able, to those likely to die.
Very calming and reassuring of the humility of humanity to hope, in the face of death, that leads to ultimate peace and joy through that which is unseen and eternal .
Thank you to Carole and Margaret C. and Gail for your kind and uplifting responses to my work.
I appreciate, Margaret C. , your comment on my meter!
Just sent your wise and beautiful poem to my kids – so at least they’ll know…
To Susan and Maryanne,
I am happy that each of you identified with some aspect of this poem.
Beautiful.
Thank you, kindly, Anjana.
I loved all of the words. You really touched my heart and gave beauty to a final journey. Thank you.
Most of us envision as to how and where we want to spend the last chapters of our life but also how we wish to depart from this world.
We all wish for a Peaceful demise in an uncluttered environment free of the shackles of tubes and machines , preferably in a place we think of as being cozy and comfortable as we take that very last breath.
In addition to envisioning the external milieu we also have many emotional , psychological and Spiritual needs which we fail to express and often take these with us to our final destination.
Your Poem is just beautiful and one can actually visualize such a peaceful surrounding .
Dear Shantu,
>We all wish for a Peaceful demise in an uncluttered environment free of the shackles of tubes and machines , preferably in a place we think of as being cozy and comfortable as we take that very last breath.<
Yes indeed and not hurried along by the crazy notion that we are a burden.
" The last four days of our lives are more important than the last forty years"
Former medical officer and colonel who served on several war fronts reflects on
why clarity and care at the end of life really matter.
Video under 35 minutes
https://www.lifesitenews.com/episodes/sister-dede-byrne-on-the-crisis-in-the-church-and-the-world/?
warmest regards,
Karen
To Kathleen and Shantu,
I feel grateful that both of you could identify with the images and expressions in my poem.