Understanding Death – Poem 8 – National Poetry Month

By vinodnarayan on April 8, 2015 • ( 0 )

So when did I learn
that everyone born has to die someday
I don’t know, must be quite young
I don’t remember ever not knowing that fact

When my paternal grandma died
I was very young, I remember it….
but don’t recollect how I felt back then
But I remember a few words from my Dad’s letter
He was abroad and could not make the visit
He wrote
“I wish I could be a kid again”

I remember the first time I felt
when someone near died
One of my uncle on my dad’s side
He was young, and
I guess I was eight

When my maternal Grandmother died
I was abroad and could not visit
I did feel the heaviness back then
and I was probably ten

It was not until I was 14 when
I saw a dead body in person and up close
Another uncle had to die
Again at a very young age
He was forty

I remember touching his body
and feeling that coldness
Not that I had touched him before
But I knew that life had its warmth
Coldness was the lack of life and
not the temperature of death

Then I saw death again
closer and closer
My maternal grandfather
and then my dad
slowly I was understanding
the reality of death and
its inevitable nature

Relatives, friends, coworkers,
unknown people around the world
dying in the daily news and social media
massacre, genocide, war
I learned a fact
awkward or comforting I don’t know
that life has to move on
even when death circles around

Death is tough
Some people say that life is that
very uncomfortable wait
for death to arrive,
as one slowly sweeps into the
blankness in the eyes of their loved ones
death is tough….

People don’t like speaking about death
they fear it will hear us and come near us
they don’t know that it is always near,
closer than we really think

With every death of someone I know
I have tried to experience more of life
to revisit what is important in life
Knowing that death exists
has helped me live better
enjoy the moment,
enjoy a hug, a kiss, a smile
feel the completeness of a ‘Thank You’
and the accomplishment of a ‘sorry’
Death has helped me be a better human being