Death is lonely in company.
He is always the unwanted guest.
The party stops when he comes in.
Bubbles go flat, petals drop from the flowers,
pink leaves the cheeks under any amount of rouge.
People don't see his good side.
They see the skull without the skin.
They see teeth and tusks and sickles.
They taste metal and smell decay.
So he dresses up to meet awful expectations.
Death needs a friend who sees beyond the masks.
I think his friend is the shaman.
Samhain, 2016
He is always the unwanted guest.
The party stops when he comes in.
Bubbles go flat, petals drop from the flowers,
pink leaves the cheeks under any amount of rouge.
People don't see his good side.
They see the skull without the skin.
They see teeth and tusks and sickles.
They taste metal and smell decay.
So he dresses up to meet awful expectations.
Death needs a friend who sees beyond the masks.
I think his friend is the shaman.
Samhain, 2016
Art: Alberto Martini, "Morte"
Lovely :)
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy this beautiful animation about death.
http://www.inspireactachieve.com/inspirational/the-life-of-death/
ReplyDeleteThe little animated Dutch film is sweet. I wonder whether the makers were familiar with the story of Placidas, the Roman hunter-killer who gave up killing (and became St. Eustace) after he looked into the eyes of a deer.
ReplyDeleteLast night I dreamt that I heared a news report were I heared a newscaster say a governor in Indonesia (Basuki Purnama) was set on fire by an angry group of people. (the dream is probably triggered by the latest news from Indonesia regarding this person ) After waking up, I immediately had to think about this article.
ReplyDeleteI think how death is experienced by someone (friend or foe) will largely depend on how a person dies. In peace, so the soul can make a good passage to another world. Or with a lot of violence and confusion, which will disturb and can obstruct a successful passage.
Death is always here and in its skeletal form is something very touching and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is not visible at first sight but if we don´t turn our gaze away and simply keep watching, we will see our best friend. He is the only one who never pretends anything. There are many beautiful people who try to be honest as much as possible. But Death doesn´t try, it is.
Maybe we don´t have to overcome any fear of death, we just need to see that it is us who are wearing masks most of the time, so when we see somebody so real and stripped of all useless ornaments, we immediately reject him as an imposter.
It is sad because what could be more than seeing everything as it is.
Thank you very much for inspiring verses.