"When We Leave This World": Poem On Grief

There are no words sufficient enough to soothe the bottomless ache of losing someone we love. That kind of grief creates a hollow ache, a yearning, a sorrow deeper than language and in the vast realm of the soul. Still, we must process the losses life brings, and find some way to make meaning of what matters, carrying it with us—forward—in new and integrated ways. This poem arose from a loss, and was my own soul's way of attempting to find beauty and purpose, even in the senseless and the painful—I hope this track also offers a place to give your mourning a new morning. This poem is one from my collection, "Love and Longing," and the comforting music is by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.

Transcript

When We Leave This World, A poem from the collection Love and Longing by Janine Cerundolo. When we leave this world, We carry in a smallish satchel the pure awareness that sourced our souls. Our footprints become emblazoned on the path we leave behind, A trail of memories speckling the hearts of loved ones. All our scars melt away, Our wrinkles dissolve in the dust. When we leave this world, The tears that fall from faces of those whose lives we've touched water the thirsty earth with remnants of love's flow. The dusk consumes our spirits and the dawn uplifts our legacies. All that we embodied dissipates into a million stars and shines ever more brightly across the heavens, Finding a new form. Our home becomes our beliefs instead of our bodies. We arrive at peace with a new horizon, A different realm, A passing through, A passing over. Our souls forgive every petty transgression and open themselves up to unconditional unfolding. When we leave this world, We remember that we were of the world, That we lived here and were a part of it, But that we belong to something and somewhere even bigger. Our imprint reshapes the hearts of those that loved us, And we care for them with a deeper love than we could have ever fathomed before. When we leave this world, Our loved ones mourn and grieve, And they feel an inconsolable loss because they get it, But they do not understand. When we leave this world, We go to the place we wished for in our dreams, The space of our deepest bold imaginings. We remember, And we forget. We bow to grace and submit ourselves to a poetic beauty contained and expressed in the mystery. When we leave this world, We notice how much it all, And none of it, Mattered. Everything increases in significance, Our gratitude is heightened, And the miracle of this precious life is affirmed. Our final breath is a lesson in letting go, Our final words are a lesson in loving truly, And our final feeling is a reflection of the life we chose to live. When we leave this world, No one knows where we go or why we go at all, But our vastness promises to leave an unforgettable mark, Our quietude promises to grant solace to the living, And our serenity in death vows to bridge the finite and the eternal. We rest in the light that we always were. One more time, We grant our successors another new beginning. Another new beginning.