When she was young, she lived on her last dollar and books and dreams.
She worked as though her life depended on it.
She watched and smiled, said yes I’ll marry you.
She died and birthed her boy.
She played her heart on that piano and her husband heard
and loved her again.
She questioned, ate disbelief. She wept.
She prayed and prayed. She received.
She slow danced with ideas,
She was frail, a leaf the wind turned over, and
a rock you couldn’t move.
She sang blues and hymns and dreams.
She struggled to get off ground some days, and
wrote her way into clouds and drank their rain.
She asked God for one more day because she erred, wounded, and grieved.
She loved deeply. She didn’t love enough.
She hoped her life was enough.
Comments all yours if you’d like to write your own here.
love the rhythm of your words . . .
Thanks for the feedback. =)
That’s a sweet obituary.
I keep it real here. Thank you. =)
There once was a young lady called Diana,
who smoked the finest cigars from Havana.
On the like button she did sit,
to stop people pressing it,
whilst maintaining an impeccable manner.
ROAR!!!!!!!
Havanas and I…
Beautiful 🙂
Thanks. =)
‘She loved deeply, she didn’t love enough.’ This says so much. We aren’t born perfect, otherwise life would be boring. We’re here to learn life’s lessons. May your hope continue! ❤
Lovely poem.
Thanks so much for taking a moment. Appreciate you.
Diana
Love more and more hehehe
Yep
She lived as if creation and her were one, she loved as if it was her last day every day, she laughed at everything, even as her body blended into the light of God. She knew she was going home and she was grateful. Heart to Heart Robyn
Beautiful, R. Thank you.
One would say a very good life! I especially enjoy the making people smile with music, that alone speaks volumes about you!
That was furtheron, who responded in this thread. I quoted him before sharing my own obit below his. =)
There is so much here I find touching: your husband hearing your hert in your music, slow dancing with ideas, loving deeply and not enough. Beautiful–and I am struck by how our unique lives infuse and enrich each other.
“struck by how our unique lives infuse and enrich each other.”
What blogging enables us to do. Thank you so much for your time. =)
Diana
This is beautiful. I can’t come up with any poem at this time. Maybe Later, I hope.
I’m always here. =)
I truly enjoy your poetry, Diana.
“She slowed danced with ideas” was my favorite line…
Thanks for the encouragement and clear feedback, Mickey. =)
Xxx
Just beautiful, Diana. Your much braver than I am. I should write my own obit, but I’m too superstitious to do so.
LOLOL
Afraid you’ll jinx yourself, eh?
Yep. I’m close enough to that door as it is, no sense pushing my luck.
*smile*
Nobody else responded to your prompt. I like the limerick, though. Very nice. On your like button indeed.
Three children, one exasperated husband and a gleaming house filled with stellar furniture
An unpublished memoir on dysfunctional childhood’s impact on motherhood
The silence that means her cackling hyena laugh will never be heard again
No more chocolate chip cookies everyone loved even though they were Toll House’s recipe
The internal evaluation of the quality of her work never shared, and now forever halted
Weeds choking flowers she planted and taught no one else to care for
That sight of a flitting hummingbird drawing her children to the window
Their shared appreciation of its spontaneous appearance and beauty her only bequest
Lovely!
Thanks!
People did respond – and more will. =) It’s something that takes time to come up with.
I like the last three lines in particular, EC. Thank you.
Yeah, that turned out to be the best kernel. Thank you, as always for the opportunity.
Love,
E
Their shared appreciation of its (hummingbird) spontaneous appearance and beauty her only bequest.
No small bequest.
Agreed. It’s funny how writing can reveal to you your own worth. This was definitely one of those moments. Thanks for responding.
Fondly,
E
And balance is somewhere between the extremes. Lovely!
That elusive sOmeWhERe….
Yours is a million times better than my feeble effort!
Thanks for the inspiration. =)
Mojoshawn higher up in the thread liked yours.
Poignant, ambitious, vibrant and vulnerable. Nice Diana.
Thoughtful, encouraging, empowering is our Brad.
=)
Thanks, my friend.
I learned from a gal in Cal. 🙂
She tells me you’ve taught her grace and kindness as well. 😉
LOL, I never can get the last lick in with you. You’re much too sharp and clever. 🙂
Very pretty. One day D I will do it I will write a poem. Did you get that thing fixed???
It was threatening to be a problem in the drafts page but things seem ok for now. Thanks for the help and of course the encouragement. =)
Slightly off topic (but not really): I think we’re gonna need a video of you playing piano. 😀
=) And it’s Autumn! (You’ll see what I mean.)
https://holisticwayfarer.com/2013/05/11/autumn-leaves-in-may-a-piano-tribute-to-my-mother/
Been meaning to share another duet with my boy (one in the archives). =) Thanks for asking, T. Very sweet.
Diana
Just lovely! The post and the playing!
Thank you, T. I really appreciate your audience.
Diana
Sounds like a beautiful, full plate of a life so far Diana. I love the recognition of what you’ve been now as opposed to when someone else has to remember for you because it’s all done. xo
“when someone else has to remember for you because it’s all done.”
Many things are too late by then, aren’t they? I was inspired to step back and look at my life in the living and to encourage you guys to do the same.
Thx for being here, dear D.
Xxx
Diana, this is wonderful! Honest and moving.
Appreciate the hearty feedback, my friend.
Love,
D.
Reblogged this on HarsH ReaLiTy and commented:
I am pretty sure my obituary would say “was arrested after death due to causing a disturbance from all the celebrations after hearing of his death.” -OM
Note: Comments disabled here, please comment on their site.
Thank you, OM. And a few of us think you’re all right. LOL
I wanted to write a poem that reflected my obituary. I wanted to make mine funny, but yours was still inspirational, and quite lovely!
Do make it funny!! It’s YOURs, after all – not mine! =) Would love to see it. Drop it here if you can.
Oh thanks. If I can make it work…will do!
lovely!!
Thanks. =)
It will either be incredibly ridiculous, or outrageously dramatic.
Either way, I would like to write my own obituary:
“Ugh, finally.
“Kidding… Maybe.
“I must say, that after all those years of depression, bipolar, aggression, and suicidal tendencies, who knew that I’d actually just die a natural death? In my worst moments I often begged for death, but when I slipped on the pavement I panicked for my life. I will hardly understand the phenomenon that occurs in depression/suicide patients like myself. We welcome death, we have no qualms with it, yet for many of us we cling to life in those possibilities it might be taken away unexpectedly. I cannot say whether I clinged in the end, or finally let go, knowing this was my end and I was content with all God had made for me. I suppose it’s the real test, you know? The test that points out if you’re really serious about leaving. Or maybe, just in those moments we simply can’t stand the thought that it wasn’t our control, it wasn’t our choice. Or maybe, like I felt often, it was like watching a good movie or show, or reading a book. Even though there were tragedies, we still wanted to play the next episode or turn the page. That was how I always saw my life. As often as I wanted to leave, I wanted to know what would happen next. My reasoning was simple; if we opt out now, we won’t ever know what would happen next. If we stay and something kills us, then what is there to complain about? Hmm. I always made decisions based on the “off-chance” of something happening. I always went the extra mile on the off-chance. I always kept trying to live based on the off-chance. As the Nanny once said, “You neva know.”
“So if you want to kill yourself, what’s the point really? Stick around, and maybe somehow your wildest dreams will come true. And if they don’t, and you die anyway, what’s the problem? Seems like a win-win either way you look at it, based on your logic. I guess that’s why I never went all the way through with it, or something held me back. When contemplating suicide, contemplate living, too, because what do you have to lose when you’re life is at stake?”
That’s what I’d like to say.
“In my worst moments I often begged for death, but when I slipped on the pavement I panicked for my life.” I’ve thought about it this, have toyed with a post on the impulse to live we all have. Yes, the ironic longing even in folks with suicidal tendencies. I love this line from The Horse and His Boy, one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia. A talking mare intercepts when her mistress is about to stab herself: “Do not by any means destroy yourself, for if you live you may yet have good fortune but all the dead are dead alike.”
Thank you for sharing. Sounds like you wrote a post. Feel free to put it up on your blog.
And I mention suicide and hope in the last paragraph, if it interests. You brought the post to mind:
https://holisticwayfarer.com/2014/06/10/confessions-mismatching-socks-and-my-deepest-longing/
Xx
Diana
Thank you so much for your input. I did decide to make a post out of it. I was fairly surprised with what I was writing, like my fingers took over to tell a story about me without fully letting me know. Thank you for the inspiring prompt 🙂
Fabulous.
Ah! An obituary in poetry! Ambitious 😊. Okay…
A woman wrote this poem for me as part of the fringe festival in Brisbane last year – I was sitting in a cafe on a weekend adventure alone, writing and drinking good coffee when she handed it to me. I have it framed n my room, and it may very well be my obituary:
Thinking deeply on the run
Putting ideas together and
Having fun. Strengthening
The imagination what will
Be her creation?
Satisfied as life goes by
Does her best new things
She’ll try – wonders what
The future holds, determined
To make change before
She is old. Loves this life
In its diversity
Walking her journey
Spirits to set free.
💗
Lovely. I can see you in it, S.
(But I did want it coming from yOu. That’s the challenge.)
*wink*
Yes, I know, and I started writing it happily enough 🙂 I sat there, wrote a few lines, then out of my pen came the words from that poem…so I went with it :). Okay, what about this (10 minute poem)
Following cycles
Within and without
Searching for beauty
She found it, no doubt.
She loved this life,
Her family, her friends
She broke herself open
again and again.
Earthy and real,
Honest and fair
She left a light burning
Know that she cares.
(So much)
Bravo. =)
Love the broke herself open, Sara.
You should post this on your blog. =)
Maybe I will 🙂
That was beautiful the way you put your sentences together are magical x
So appreciate you, J.
awe, hugs x
“She was frail, a leaf the wind turned over, and a rock you couldn’t move in her convictions.”
Yes! A paradox for sure……perhaps our frailty motivates us to dig deep enough to find that rock.
Beautiful, touching, enlightening and inspiring. Your gifts of reality, honesty, and hope always seem to come when I most need them. Thank you.
I, not to mention my life, am one walking paradox for sure. ^^ I love your take on frailty and the search for anchor, Eileen. Your beautiful feedback warms me so. Thank you.
Love,
Diana
This was so lovely to read HW 😀
You know what mine would say.
‘Believed that even idiots could find meaning in life. Could not live without dreaming that life was poetry and poetry was life. Battled the hypocrite within till her last breath…and never won by writing this!’ 😉
Loved this!
I started chuckling at:
“You know what mine would say.”
Ha ha. Love yours through and through, my dear. Thanks for leaving it here. Hope readers trace your die-hard (pun intended) convictions back to your lovely space.
Bear hug,
HW
😀 Thank you HW!
And a splendid bear hug right back to you.
What did she play on the piano?
It actually doesn’t matter to Husband what she plays =) but he requests hymns. We’re a family of musicians who appreciate all the genres. =) She loves to groove like Ray Charles. When he’s mad, he complains it’s not fair that he melts and forgives her from her music. lol
“She died and birthed her boy” I got that immediately.
To say what you wrote is lyrical would be an understatement. It’s absolutely beautiful.
And you’ve been absolutely wonderful.
Beautiful.
Thanks for being here. =)
Diana
Wow, that’s a powerful statement…
Thank you, Michael. =) Appreciate your time.
That is an obituary I’d be happy to have. I love the way you bring in the contrasts of strength and frailty, dreams and hard work, questioning and acceptance. Obituaries can just be about what you did, this is about who you are. Wonderful.
Omg. What a commentary.
Omg.
Thank you, my friend.
Well God is more accepting than even our best friends so you are on safe ground.
*Smile* Thanks, Ian.
I like the play of opposites. I suppose that is what an obituary is: a testimony to the between – birth and death. I’m a bit conflicted by the idea of writing my own obituary, thinking that what others say about me says something that I cannot say. On the other hand, a self written obituary is something of a testimony to the me that others might not see. So, perhaps between the two is the real me, seen by One alone.
Smile.
(I think you should go for it.)
The King of Rock and Roll
The murmurs rolling from the crowd
Like waves upon the sea
The multitudes are growing restless
I know they wait for me
Now the lights grow oh so dim
The murmurs quickly silence
A bright white spotlight finds my face
I sneer in sheer defiance.
This crowd is quickly hypnotized
I have them in my hold
They know it’s me, they’ve come to see
The King of Rock and Roll.
Embracing gently my guitar
My fingers strum the strings
And when I’m sure the time is right
From deep inside I sing.
At first I sing a sad song
Then I sing a song of war
Next I speak my mind a little while
And now I sing a little more.
They’ve paid out cash to watch me play
I’ll never leave them cold.
They’ll tell their friends I really am
The King of Rock and Roll.
Now my performance for this night
Has finally reached its end
Another night in another town
I’ll do it all again.
The last staunch fan has left the hall
The band has gone their way
The roadies end a job well done
Each single one’s been paid.
Myself, I head for my hotel.
There’s an ache within my soul.
Another night spent all alone…
For the King of Rock and Roll.
Not exactly an obituary, but I’m not exactly a poet. Sorry.
The title made me smile.
Love this:
My fingers strum the strings
And when I’m sure the time is right
From deep inside I sing.
And the poignant
“Now my performance for this night
Has finally reached its end”
You should post this on your board, David.
As well as write more poetry.
I think I would be far too embarrassed to have anyone think I really considered myself to be a poet. I write these things much like some people doodle. But thank-you for the kind and generous words.
Keep “doodling”. =)
The only word I want in my obituary is Kind. I want to be remembered as a person who was kind.
So
humbling.
This will be staying with me.
I love this! If I had to write one it would be hear lies MichelleMarie all her life she tried to measure up and felt like she fell short. Until the day she finally gave her life to God and asked Jesus into her heart that old self was dead. Thank God!
I love this!
BTW my daughter is doing so much better and eating mich better taking her probiotics and her stomach is starting to feel better! Thank you
WONderful to both things. =) Thanks for letting me know, MM.
Xxxx
XXXX back to you and have a wonderful week! 😀
Lovely!!…slow dance with ideas…love love love:)
Thanks, C-L. =) Appreciate the clear feedback.
Oh so beautifully written.
Thank you for your time, Monica. =)
Diana
A lovely obituary. You challenge me to writ one;I shall. I planned my funeral here. I love the poem, your words hit me as being a true life worth the living.
Just so very sweet of you, Meredith. Did you mean you planned your funeral on your blog?
Diana
Yes. In story form – http://meredithlbl.com/2014/06/20/mourners.
‘She hoped her life was enough’. Beautiful. And I get that. Sorry I didn’t get here until now Diana, my head is spinning, won’t go into lengthy explanations, also having horrible problems with my email server so getting my notifications late and messing me up. Frustration doesn’t even cut it right now. Grrrrr…. My blog post today explains a little more. Thanks for always thinking of me my friend. See you soon…hugs ❤
You are under no obligation to come over, S. BAH, sorry about your computer troubles (again!). Will be getting back to readers when I surface.
Xxxx
D.
Thanks for that D. Yes, I know…again!! Think I will have to bite the bullet and replace it. Not looking forward to that one bit. See you soon… xxx
This was one of the hardest writing tasks. EVER. I think I should write up an obituary every year. Kind of like practice for the grand finale’. Loved the idea:)
******************************************************
She hoped to be remembered for even a fleck of goodness present in her.
She had simple thoughts, complicated aims. She dreamed of being a better person; of doing the greater good. She didn’t think she got far.
She needed contentment, confidence, and freedom. She fought with herself for all those things. Some of the answers were in her head. Most were in her heart.
She had passion. She had a voice. It remained muffled in her early years. It took on wings as she grew older. She felt more alive with every flutter, but at times, less content.
She loved. But she could have loved more. She cried. But she could have cried less. She laughed. But she could have laughed a lot more. She hoped. She hoped plenty.
She found God in the small things. That where HE smiled back. She had faith. A resolute star in her sky, that showed her she was getting there.
She lived a life of love. Noting more. Nothing less. And for that, she was forever grateful.
Many gems here, N. Thanks so much for the thought you put into this. (Think you should post it over at your place. 😉 )
simple thoughts, complicated aims.
Some of the answers were in her head. Most were in her heart.
My fav:
She cried. But she could have cried less. She laughed. But she could have laughed a lot more. She hoped. She hoped plenty.
She found God in the small things. That where HE smiled back. She had faith. A resolute star in her sky, that showed her she was getting there.
=========
I have heard her
voice.
I felt sad and excited both as I wrote this. Is that even possible? And wow thanks, I think I will post it:)..
Wow, Nida. That’s something. What a powerful experience. *chills* Well, you’re sure to make others feel those things too, then.
really beautiful, diana…i sighed contentedly at the end ❤ aleya
That is
wonderful.
I’ll take a sigh like that.
Thanks, my friend.
This was really moving Diana. A life lived and dreamt. She ‘wrote into the clouds and drank the rain’, I love that line; a great summation of your passion. 🙂 ❤
You’ve been with me a long time to be able to sum up my work, Deb.
You’ve been amazing. Thank you for the loving feedback. I also know you don’t take obits lightly. I hope you’re back on track in that regard.
Xxx
D.
Pingback: My Obituary | on the road to inkrichment
Reblogged this on Memoirs of a Dreamer.
Appreciate the support. =)
your words are beautiful!! especially the last 2 line!!
Thanks for letting me know which parts struck. =)
Appreciate the support.
Diana
He was the class clown. He was less mature than his toddlers. He loved sports and fun and travel and run.
He was sadly mauled by a pack of coyotes in the middle of an 18 mile run.
He is survived by his loving family and minor celebrity friends.
*Sniff sniff* This is the most moving obit on a famous immature coyote victim I’ve ever read.
She was the little girl you knew down the street,
She loved so much everyone defined her as sweet
But then he came into her life and made it dark
Who would have known one relationship will hide her spark
Now I’m all grown up with just memories of her
She’s gone and all I can do is refer.
My Obituary – hopefully its not too bad.
Oh wow.
Not bad. Just sad.
I’d encourage you to post it on your blog.
=)
Thanks, sounds like a plan:)