The memorial flowers
flipped upside down
scattered on the graveled edges
of the freeway
where spirit left body and earth
in fire and flame
leaving ash
and disintegrating flowers
in its wake
...wake...
"What's grandpa doing?"
I ask my father
5 years of age
sitting on his shoulders
staring into the casket
at the man who was my hero.
"He's sleeping,"
my dad tearfully explains to me.
"Well, wake him up.
I want to play."
"Wake up grandpa!
I want to play!"
"Remember always, mighty king,
that gods decreed the fates of all
many years ago. They alone are let
to be eternal, while we frail humans die
as you yourself must someday do.
What is best for us to do
is now to sing and dance.
Relish warm food and cool drinks.
Cherish children to whom your love gives life.
Bathe easily in sweet, refreshing waters.
Play joyfully with your chosen wife."
"It is the will of the gods for you to smile
on simple pleasure in the leisure time of your short days."
From the epic poem, "Gilgamesh," Tablet 10, column 3, spoken by Siduri, the tavern keeper, to Gilgamesh in his journey to the underworld to try to overcome death in his grief for the death of his best friend, Enkidu.
flipped upside down
scattered on the graveled edges
of the freeway
where spirit left body and earth
in fire and flame
leaving ash
and disintegrating flowers
in its wake
...wake...
"What's grandpa doing?"
I ask my father
5 years of age
sitting on his shoulders
staring into the casket
at the man who was my hero.
"He's sleeping,"
my dad tearfully explains to me.
"Well, wake him up.
I want to play."
"Wake up grandpa!
I want to play!"
"Remember always, mighty king,
that gods decreed the fates of all
many years ago. They alone are let
to be eternal, while we frail humans die
as you yourself must someday do.
What is best for us to do
is now to sing and dance.
Relish warm food and cool drinks.
Cherish children to whom your love gives life.
Bathe easily in sweet, refreshing waters.
Play joyfully with your chosen wife."
"It is the will of the gods for you to smile
on simple pleasure in the leisure time of your short days."
From the epic poem, "Gilgamesh," Tablet 10, column 3, spoken by Siduri, the tavern keeper, to Gilgamesh in his journey to the underworld to try to overcome death in his grief for the death of his best friend, Enkidu.
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