This was first written by Alastair on 31st August, 2020, yet this is a beautifully timeless piece that we hope you will enjoy reading.

~

Ashes

Hi Mum and Dad

Long time no see as the saying goes

But it doesn’t seem like long

So much has been going on

And I think of you frequently

And feel sorry that you are still sitting on the front room bookshelf

I want to get to Ireland and the Mournes to release your ashes to the wind

On Round Seifin

Where we first climbed as your young family

Finding sweet caches of encouragement on the way up

It’s not going to happen this year, not with lockdown

That’s a word you will not be familiar with

But in the way of things

The interconnection of everything

There may be some way that you are aware of the situation

It has been strange

But nowhere near as strange as being without you

I miss you very much and have not managed to deal with the loss of you yet. 

Once I can give your ashes to the mountain wind

I think, I hope

That I will feel better

Even maybe closer 

As I will then know 

That you will have full freedom 

To interact with everything else in this universe 

And not be confined 

By a plastic box. 

I wove a tapestry about you

About your transformation –

“Metamorphosis”

It has sound with it

Within it

I wanted to describe where I thought you had gone

Out there

With the rest of the universal molecules

I wanted to describe your

Transition to another state

In design

Pattern

Texture

Sound

I am really pleased with it

In all those ways

I hope you would like it too

And, perhaps, recognise it

It holds you and us

Your family. 

~

Thank you so much to Alastair for this beautifully expressed poem. For us, this poem perfectly encapsulates the consistency of grief and the constant loss we feel.

If you would like to read Alastair’s first post, you can click here.

There are a few spots available for July As Told By You posts! You can submit your post to us by emailing in at thegriefreality@outlook.com! We can’t wait to read your post.