When I must leave you
for a little while.
Please do not grieve
and shed wild tears,
and hug your sorrow
to you through the years.
But start out bravely
with a gallant smile;
And for my sake and in my name
live on and do all things the same.
Feed not your loneliness
on empty days,
but fill each waking hour in
useful ways,
reach out your hand
in comfort and in cheer
and I in turn will comfort you
and hold you near;
And never, never be afraid to die,
for I am waiting
for you in the sky.
Helen Steiner Rice
11th April 2011
I am I and you are you, whatever we were to each other that we still are.
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
Life means all that it ever meant, it is the same as it ever was.
Extract from a poem by Henry Scott Holland