For Those Laid to Rest Here

Under a soft blanket of fallen leaves,

safe in the hush of the whispering trees

I have come home.

My time here on earth is now done,

all the noise and the clamour, the joy and the pain,

the powerful life force that drove me onwards

has slipped away into the quiet of eternity,

and I am at peace.

From now on, I will dance through your memories

threading thoughts of love through your heart.

The pain of loss will gradually ease, and the sadness will lift.

the days will be lighter, and the nights not so long,

for I am still here.

When you walk through this place, you will feel me

in the gentle touch of the breeze on your face,

in the sunlight dappling the forest floor,

in the murmur of the branches high above you,

I am all around.

I have returned to the place from whence I came,

to the elements that created me.

The earth that gave me the life I so loved

has now welcomed me back to her,

to be at one with all her beauty.

Here, under my blanket of fallen leaves

I have found my resting place.

I have come home.

©Fran Hall 2008

The Passing

...As Nature so ordained

come the Summertime,

the Sun's rays shall shine

through the protective branches

of the woodland forest.

Its' warmth shall embrace

Stephen's final resting place.

And, at the break of Dawn,

each day for evermore,

the songbirds of the woodlands

will sing a requiem for Stephen.

Nature's Magnificat

The Dawn Chorus.'

(from a poem by Michael Brennan in tribute to the late Stephen Cooley, buried at Chiltern Woodland Burial Park in January 2010.)