I WILL BE THERE

And if I go, while you're still here,
Know that I still live on,
Vibrating to a different measure
Behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me.
So you must have faith.
I wait the time when we can soar together again,
Both aware of each other. 
Until then, live your life to the fullest,
And when you need me, 
Just whisper my name in your heart.
I will be there.

Anonymous

MAY I GO NOW?

May I go now?
So you think the time is right?
May I say goodbye to pain-filled days
And endless lonely nights?
I've lived my life and done my best,
An example tried to be.
So I can take that step beyond
And set my spirit free?
I didn't want to go at first, 
I fought with all my might.
But something seems to draw me now
To a warm and loving light.
I want to go.
I really do.
It's difficult to stay.
But I will try as best I can
To live just one more day,
To give you time to care for me
And share your love and fears.
I know you're sad and afraid, 
Because I see your tears.
I'll not be far,
I promise that, and hope you'll always know
That my spirit will be close to you,
Wherever you may go.
Thank you so for loving me.
You know I love you too;
That's why it's hard to say goodbye
And end this life with you.
So hold me now, just one more time
And let me hear you say, 
Because you care so much for me,
You'll let me go today.

By Susan A. Jackson

ALL IS WELL

Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used, put no difference into your tone; wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near just around the corner. All, all is well.

Canon Scott Holland

LOVE DOGS

One night a man was crying,
Allah! Allah!
His lips grew sweet with the praising,
until a cynic said,
"So! I have heard you
calling out, but have you ever
gotten any response?"
The man had no answer to that,
he quit praying and fell into a confused sleep.
He dreamed he saw Khidr, the guide of souls,
in a thick, green foliage.
"Why did you stop praising?"
"Because I've never heard anything back."
"This longing you express IS the return message."
The grief you cry out from 
draws you toward union.
Your pure sadness 
that wants help
is the secret cup.
Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.
There are love-dogs
no one knows the names of.
Give your life
to be one of them.

Rumi

WHEREVER WE ARE

She whom we love
and lose
is no longer 
where she was before.
She is now 
Wherever we are.

St. John Chrysostom

ONENESS

The moment I die,
I will try to come back to you
as quickly as possible.
I promise it will not take long.
Isn't it true
I am already with you,
As I die each moment
I come back to you in every moment.
Just look,
Feel my presence.
If you want to cry,
Please cry.
And know that I will cry with you.
The tears you shed
Will heal us both.
Your tears are mine.
The earth I tread this morning
Transcends history.
Spring and Winter are both present in the moment.
The young leaf and the dead leaf are really one.
My feet touch deathlessness,
And my feet are yours. Walk with me now.
Let us enter the dimension of oneness
And see the cherry tree blossom in Winter.
Why should we talk about death
I don't need to die
To be back with you.

Thich Nhat Hanh

JOURNEY

Here are words written down-
footprints on the sand,
cloud formations.
Tomorrow
I'll be gone.

Thich Nhat Hanh

UNTITLED

And if I go, while you're still here,
Know that I still live on,
Vibrating to a different measure
Behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me in the same way,
So you must have faith.
I wait the time when we can soar together again,
Both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to the fullest,
And when you need me,
Just whisper my name in your heart.
I will be there.

Anonymous

FELLOW TRAVELERS

We are travelers on a cosmic journey
Star dust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and 
Whirlpools of infinity, Life is eternal,
But the expressions of life are ephemeral,
   momentary, transient,
This existence of our is as transient as
   spring clouds,
To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking
   at the movements of a dance,
A lifetime is like a flash of lightening in the sky,
Rushing by like a torrent down a steep mountain,
We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other,
To meet, to love, to share, This is a precious moment,
But it is transient, it is a little parenthesis in eternity..
If, we share with caring, lightheartedness,
And love, we will create abundance and joy 
   For each other,
And then this moment 
   Will have been worthwhile,
Thank you for the Gift of life.

UNTITLED

And now we lay you down to sleep
You're finally at rest
Our love for you we'll always keep
You were the very best
You gave us joy for thirteen years
A memory for each new day
Then came the day of all my fears
The day you passed away
A part of us you took with you
And I can't stand the pain
But when this life on earth is through
I know we'll meet again.

(excerpted from 'Pet Loss')

PAWNEE WISDOM

In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that he showed himself through the beasts, and that from them, and from the stars and the sun and the moon, man should learn.

Pawnee chief Letakota-Lesa

BEYOND DEATH

In every death there is life
In every life there is death
In every joy there is pain
In every pain there is joy
If these things are mingled
If they are one
Is there joy, is there pain?
It is all the same
Oneness and the breath of living.

SPIRIT CHOOSES

What is life-
It is the flash
Of a firefly
In the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo
In the wintertime.
It is the little shadow 
Which runs across the grass
And loses itself in the sunset.

Crowfoot

A THOUGHT

New life awaits and grows from old life decaying. Spirit is freed when it lets go of old forms that have fulfilled their purpose. Honor your loss and your need to grieve and respect friends that have gone on, but also-look around and see life renewed, waiting to be welcomed into your heart.

excerpted from 'Animals: Our Return to Wholeness by Penelope Smith pp. 262

POEM

Oh wisdom in your fur coat and whiskers.
What don't you know?
Sometimes I believe I have seen my soul searched in your eyes,
How much time passes between us without a word?
How much do you know that I've just begun to understand?

Spirit of grace
And humor
On all fours.

Pam Reinke

POEM

There is one who is not free.
She gave herself the life of a 
Servant or is it a sister?
Who out of love needs no one else but me.

She has stood between horn and hoof.
She had bled for me, cried, sung and played.

Once I asked her to bite a drunk who angered me.
But she, in wisdom, would not.
Yet when I was alone and afraid of someone, 
She was unafraid and stood up between us
Crying, "No! No!

You have followed me for a long while.
I hope when this is over you follow me to the spirit place 
Spirit home
Spirit woman
Spirit hound.

Teresa Martino- 'Learning from Eagle, Living with Coyote'

POEM

Grieve not,
Nor speak of me with tears
But laugh and talk of me
As if I were beside you,
I loved you so-
'Twas heaven here with you.

Isla Paschal Richardson