The Dead and The Living

The Dead and The Living ©

by

Michael Casey

I first saw a deceased when I was nine years old ,my father said not

to worry as the dead are the same as the living , only the laughter

has left them , the sparkle has gone from their eyes , the worry has

been lifted from their shoulders , and their voice has vanished to

eternity .

In paradise the sparkle will return for it is the twinkle of the

stars , the laughter will return too for it is the morning breeze and

the turning tides are their sides shaking with laughter .

I treat the deceased with the same courtesy as I give to the living ,

though I find the deceased are always more polite . My father also

had a few words to say about the living .

He said that the living are only the caretakers of the soul , yet

they think their existance is everything , that they know everything

because they experience many things with their senses .

What the living don't acknowledge is that their time is short and

when I lay their bodies to rest then their souls continue without

them , without their strong , without their weak , without their

beautiful or even ugly temporary form , to where I cannot say , only

that it is a better place .

Percy the undertaker placed the lid on the coffin ,the soul was free

THE BEGINNING

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I wrote this poem in November 1987 on a Sunday on a bus while going to work at StatsMR  later part of ACNielsen, I had started to write my first book,
as Pad Webb had suggested

I wanted to have the Poet and Undertaker say something about his role
this comes from The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker
which I was going to call A Nation of Shopkeepers but I thought nobody
would know their History, so I chose the occupations on the street.

this poem I hope brings comfort to people, at this time especially.....