Funeral Reading Ideas: A Death Poem by Bethany Rose
The first in our new series of funeral reading ideas has been chosen by Georgina Halse, a creative celebrant based in East Devon with ‘an artist’s eye and an empath’s ear’. Her choice, A Death Poem by Bethany Rose is a poem of hope that aids the emotions of grief and loss.
George shares; “I love this poem as it addresses the longing for signs from the person we have lost, the fact they are gone but has a feeling of hope that they are still with us in a million little ways. It has a nod to the desperation of grief without being too focussed upon it. It can really help lift a ceremony to have something a little hopeful included, but that doesn’t try and erase the emotion, grief, or loss.”
“I am quite a relaxed, creative celebrant and believe strongly that families should be able to say goodbye in a way that suits them and their loved one, without being too constrained by “the norm”. I am a big believer in being flexible and having as much time as possible for those that want to speak or add something to the ceremony to be able to do that. I advocate hugely for funerals in alternative venues that allow this flexibility of ceremony.”
A Death Poem by Bethany Rose
You think I am gone
But I speak to you
every day
I have made the fruit fall for you
left feathers outside
your front door
I have turned the traffic lights
tangerine too early
just to keep you safe
and I have hidden your coat
so that you were late enough
to see the whole sky shift
pink
I made the light leave early this year to make
autumn arrive because I know how much
you love it when the leaves put gold
over the ground
I have made your favourite song come on the radio
three magpie mornings in a row
and kept the mil tasting sweet for one whole day more
than it should have done
every night when you fall asleep
and you are crying out and your
hands drag themselves against the wall
and you call out
‘Please
why won’t you answer me?’
listen
to the pipes creaking in the dark
to the roar of the traffic outside
it is me telling you
that as long as you are here
I am here too
Find out more about Bethany Rose here