Funeral Blues {by W.H. Alden}

My senior year in high school, we had to recite this poem in my AP English class... After this very tragic week, these lyrics somehow danced back into my head... My uncle died 15 minutes after I spoke with him on Father's Day and a true American Idol, Michael Jackson, died on the very same day that my uncle was buried... Let me share the poem with you...

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Now, I must admit that this poem does not reflect what I am feeling right now... I still have hope and life still goes on.... Maybe it just danced back into my mind for two very important reasons:

1. To remind me that I did learn something in AP English and that those things that I learned still continue to impact my life. {I have yet to find a use for geometry}
2. To inspire me to write a more optimistic poem about the sudden and unexpected of a loved one...

Has tragedy struck you lately? How have you dealt with it?