Talking about Death Won’t Kill You
Stephen Jenkinson, author of Die Wise, describes our culture as death phobic and grief illiterate. And yet, there we were in the spirit of poetic memoir and depth psychology, delving into subjects so often avoided.
Katherine left the bedside of a dying friend to share this encore call-and-response reading that she and I had done in November for 25 students of counseling at a Radford University Death and Bereavement class. She left her phone on vibrate.
There was a small but attentive audience who gave up being outside on one of the warmest near-Spring days of the new year to listen, feel deeply and share.
They jotted down thoughts and poems that were inspired by the readings and shared them when our readings were done.
Our friend Judith (co-founder of Floyd’s Little River Poetry Festival) has a talent for writing on the spot. All I can remember now is a line about dancing down “hippie heaven” that made us laugh.
Jenkinson also says that dying is the fulfillment, not the end of life.
You vow not to forget… love’s lasting imprint… when life has been spent… and time no longer counts you…
Thanks to everyone who came out and to Judith (pictured above) and Joann (the librarian) who took pictures. We love our library! My books Packing a Suitcase for the After Life, Objects are Closer Than They Appear and Poems from the Darkroom, and Chantal’s books, Poetic Memoir of a Nascent Senescent and A Year of Haiku will be available for purchase at the event. They are also sold on Amazon and available in Floyd at The Harvest Moon Food Store and The Floyd Country Store.
P.S. Katherine made it back in time to see our friend off. “She has flown,” she just texted me.
