poems fpr grieving

[lilyjohn]

Just after Johnny died I joined a trial on line suport groupl One day we started posting poems that we had found or been given. I would like to put a few of them here. I hope this is the right forum. I thought about inspirational but it just seems more appropriate here for some reason.

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I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until at length she is only a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky meet and mingle with each other. Then someone at my side exclaims, "There, she’s gone!"

Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in hull and mast and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of her destination. Her diminishing size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "She’s gone," there are other eyes watching for her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "There, she comes!"

And that is dying.

Do not stand at my grave and weep!

I am not there.

I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight,

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry!

I am not there.

I did not die.

This poem was found in an envelope left by a soldier killed by a mine in Londonderry [ireland] in 1989. It was read by his father on the BBC in 1995 in rememberance.

I'M FREE

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free,

I'm following the path God laid for me.

I took his hand when I heard him call.

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day; to laugh,

to love, to work or play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way.

I've found that peace at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void, then fill

it with remembered joy. A friendship

shared, a laugh, a kiss; Ah yes, these things I too will miss. Be not burdoned with times of sorrow. I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow. My life's been full. I savored much. Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch. Perhaps my time seemed all too brief. Don't lengthen it now with undue grief. Lift up your heart and share with me.

God wanted me now - He set me free. Author: unk

It's In The Valleys I Grow

Sometimes life seems hard to bear,

Full of sorrow, trouble and woe

Its then I have to remember

That it's in the valleys I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top

And never experienced pain

I would never appreciate God's love

And would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn

And my growth is very slow,

Sometimes I need the mountain tops,

But it's in the valleys I grow.

I do not always understand

Why things happen as they do,

But I am very sure of one thing,

My Lord will see me through.

My little valleys are nothing

When I picture Christ on the cross

He went through the valley of death;

His victory was Satan's loss.

Forgive me Lord, for complaining

When I'm feeling so very low,

Just give me a gentle reminder

That it's in the valley I grow.

Continue to strengthen me, Lord

And use my life each day,

To share your love with others

And help them find their way.

Thank you the valleys, Lord

For this one thing I know

The mountaintops are glorious

But it's in the valleys I grow.

Author: Unk

As you hold me close

in memory,

even though we are apart,

my spirit will live on,

there within your heart.

I am with you always.

When you lean

on trusted friends

and their caring hugs

enfold you

within their loving arms,

I'll be there to hold you.

I am with you always.

And beyond the

far horizon

when we'll finally

be together,

where love will be eternal

and life will last forever...

I am with you always.