A PEACE OF POETRY

This is an old piece of poetry written by W.H. Auden in the early 1900′s.  I believed it was appropriate to add to my blog even if it seems a little bleak, but very much what a lot of people may feel like.



FUNERAL BLUE’S

By W.H. Auden

Stop all the clock’s, cut off the phone,

Prevent the dog from barking, with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos with muffled drum,

Bring out the coffin, let the Mourners come

Let aeroplanes circle, moaning over head,

Scribbling on the sky, the message “He is Dead”,

Put crepe bows ’round the neck of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear white cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week, and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;

           For nothing now can ever come to any good.

ROADSIDE MEMORIAL

The Roadside Memorial is something that I’m sure most people have seen.  It is usually represented by a cross or marker indicating where someone died in a car crash.  Society is very fast paced in most parts of the world and driving can be very unforgiving of mistakes.  The automobile companies try their best to invent new methods of safer vehicles but the way people drive, and the number of people driving, causes conflict. The average house hold in North America owns two to three vehicles. Most vehicles you see on the road have only one passenger (the driver), yet four or five seats. It seems like everyone wants to get to where they are going alone and as fast as possible making us numb to the event of a fatal car crash until it happens close to home. Losing someone you love in a car crash can be shocking and very stressful because it is completely unforeseen. The Roadside Memorial is something like a sign.  It is something to pay attention to so that you know that spot can be treacherous, reminding you to take extra caution while driving.  If you know of someone who recently died in a car crash and are thinking of marking the spot with a cross, try to keep it simple. Anything too elaborate is classified as distracted driving and might be dismantled by law enforcement. I personally like the idea of markers showing these spots cause it is a sign of respect for the dead, but if there gets to be too many, it will turn into a Roadside Graveyard! We must reflect on our methods of transportation and car pooling should be mandatory in certain areas.  Also, I believe that there should only be one vehicle per household, forcing people to carpool and cutting down on traffic congestion. We are smart enough to know that there are other methods of safe transportation and these methods should be exercised regularly. Drive safe and keep your eyes on the road.

EPITAPHS

I would like to add a little humor to my blog by posting some humorous epitaphs about once a month.  An epitaph is writing on a tombstone.  Sometimes the deceased write it before they die and sometimes our loved ones write it for us.  The most infamous ones were written during the late 1800′s when the wild west was being tamed. So called loved ones were not always loved and things got said after they moved on.  Here is an old English epitaph that I came across:

“Here lies my poor wife, without bed or blanket,

But dead as a door nail, God be thanket.”

Here is another one found in Silvermine Connecticut:

“Here lies the body of Mary Devoe,

Wife of Henry Devoe.

Tears cannot bring her back,

Therefore, I weep.”

I hope you have enjoyed my post today and hope that I have lightened your mood on a serious situation.  God Bless!

BOOT HILL

I am sure a lot of people are familiar with the term “Boot Hill”.  The famous era of when western United States was in the process of  being settled.  The law was not

established and many single people were working in the vicinity as miners, cattlemen, army troops, and buffalo hunters creating a boom in growth.  With growth came trouble in the form of greed.  Outlaws were plenty and many people died from gunshot or hanging.  These people usually “died with their boots on” hence the name “Boot Hill”.
There are three Boot Hill Cemeteries that are famous due to the history and the people buried there:
1. Dodge City Kansas has the famous Boot Hill Museum where they have preserved a part of the town from the 1870′s that includes a street front with a saloon and the original cemetery with the hangman’s tree.  Most of the people buried there are unknown, but the history of the time brought about famous radio and TV shows and many movies.
2. Tombstone Arizona Boot Hill Cemetery is well known for it epitaphs which are usually of a humorous nature, such as: Here lies Lester Moore, Four slugs from a 44, no less, no more.  Also known for the grave sites of Billy Clanton and the McLaury Brothers, who fought in the gunfight at the OK Corral.
3. Deadwood, South Dakota Boot Hill Cemetery is the resting place of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock.
Many of these names are legends and are still being used in the entertainment business today.  These cemeteries are part of the unforgettable history of the United States and if  you get a chance to visit one, have a drink for me!

WRITING LETTERS

 Writing letters to our dearly departed is a wonderful therapy for grief. Most people think that the line of communication is cut after we die, but I believe that the line is wide open! I’ve known people who have carried grief around for years because they felt that they never had a chance to fully tell the deceased loved one how they truly felt about them. You still can tell them through the writing of letters. I have books of writing because I believe that they have an affect on our lives, no matter how long they have been gone or how far away you think they might be, they still hear our words for them and they do respond. It’s as simple as keeping a journal and very therapeutic. You can ask questions through your writing or just tell them how much you love them and what happened that day that reminded you of them. The dearly departed love hearing from us and it is not a sign of mental illness to write letters addressed to those that have gone before us. Some of the world’s greatest inventions, art and song have been transmitted through this action. The line is always open and it is your choice to pick up a pen…….Amen.

CIMETIERE LES INNOCENTS

Cimetiere Les Innocents was the first cemetery built in the heart of Paris back in the 17 hundreds.  The area size being only 130 meters by 65, made it a nice little quint graveyard that was well maintained.  I’m shocked to think that as Paris grew, why did they not build another one?  This is a fact and so you can imagine what it was like.  The city was conducting mass burials in one cemetery just to keep up with their dead.  There was never much of a service performed and embalming was considered witch craft.  The pit would be left open until it was brimming with bodies.  Then they would close it and dig another one.  If you know anything about decomposition and what it breeds, (and we are not just talking about smell!!), you can well imagine the sick conditions of it all.  So Cimetiere Les Innocents became a festering dumping ground for bodies and when there was absolutely no more room, they were left outside, leaning up against the wall.  Charnel  houses began popping up in the neighborhood, attempting to make more room in the cemetery.  Chances of being sick from walking past the graveyard were pretty good, and God fore sake if you should fall into a pit!  At night the grave robbers, necromancers, and whores would use the cemetery as a stomping ground until the neighborhood went to hell it a hand cart!  By the 1770′s, bodies were exploding into the neighboring cellars and a fatal out break of disease caused by bad air slayed many in the surrounding area.

Finally in the spring of 1780, Louis the XVI closed The Cimetiere des Innocents for good.  The church was quite upset due to losing the burial fees, but it had to be done.  This was only the first step.  The next step would be to clean the place up which didn’t take place until six years later.  During the exhuming process, the decomposed bodies were cleaned of any margaric acid, or fat which got turned into candles and soap and was a lucrative business in Paris at the time.  The bones of the dead were dug up and carried in large piles by night to Denfert-Rocherau, an abandoned mine which was harboring revolutionaries and political up risers.  The procession was followed by priests as they said prayers for the dead and the bones were arranged in artistic displays inside the mine shafts and “The Catacombs” was born!  New cemeteries were built outside of Paris and the city could breathe once again!  I could never understand the point of the charnel houses, cause as far as I know, it’s unholy to disturb the dead, yet they were being dug up daily, but I can’t say if prayers were being said for them or not.  Did the families know or did they go to visit their relative’s grave only to find someone else buried there.  I realize that this is still practiced in some countries just labeled differently and you pay rent on a burial plot.  This practice does not make me feel secure about burying anyone I love and this kind of business conduct should not exist especially on so called holy ground.  Folks, we are not respecting the dead by turning death into a money pit!

THE CLOSING OF THE CASKET

If you’ve been to an open casket funeral, you will find that the most moving moments of the ceremony is the closing of the casket and the lowering of the casket in the cemetery. These seem to be the final, final good-byes. This is usually when the whole family is put into tears and a feeling of loss is hanging over the assembly. The pain can be softened if we look at these moments in a different light.  Consider it not “the end” but “the beginning!” The beginning of a new journey, surrounded by friends and family that have gone before them.  It can be considered an adventure that we will all embark on sooner or later. Rejoice at the closing of the casket fore this is what the deceased would rather see at their funeral. I sometimes wonder if some journeys are not put on hold due to the emotional state of the loved ones left behind. Some spirits may feel they cannot leave until they have the emotional consent from family and friends, postponing their journey and where they are needed until a later time. I believe we die because our spirit is needed in another place, we have work to accomplish on the other side. So next time an open casket funeral is on your agenda, rejoice to the closing of the casket and the beginning of the journey and send them off with a smile and a knowing that they are needed in another realm.