Thursday, 3 February 2011
The Dead – Billy Collins
The Dead
The dead are always looking down on us, they say,
while we are putting on our shoes or making a sandwich,
they are looking down through the glass-bottom boats of heaven
as they row themselves slowly through eternity.
They watch the tops of our heads moving below on earth,
and when we lie down in a field or on a couch,
drugged perhaps by the hum of a warm afternoon,
they think we are looking back at them,
which makes them lift their oars and fall silent
and wait, like parents, for us to close our eyes.
Categories: Art and death, Attitudes to death, bereavement, Grief, Immortality, Memorialising
Previous Posts
- Cockup
- Does this make the case for a secular funeral ritual?
- Another World – Ane Brun
- Dead Dad
- For sale: Timothy Leary’s flotation tank
- Quote of the day
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- Habeas corpse
- Traveller graves, Ireland
- Kiwi death rites
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There are 6 comments
Your Comments
Rupert Callender said...
I love this poem. Never had the nerve to use it in a ceremony.
nursemyra said...
Wow – I hadn’t heard this before but I love it.
And I’m delighted to finally be able to leave comments on your blog again!
charles said...
Most awfully good to see you again, Nurse Myra!
Nestov Ratz said...
“while we are putting on our shoes or making a sandwich”
That’s just beautiful. If I didn’t know better I would think it was a lost work by William McGonagal, the tragedian of Dundee.
charles said...
Alas, I am very sorry to say.
Comfort Blanket said...
I’m with Rupert. I came across this poem last year and loved it. But haven’t found quite the right moment to use it. One day soon…
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