When Time of Parting Comes

Does a person newly dead

Indulge in tears

When pausing for a moment

Just beyond the veil,

Beholding loved ones overcome by grief,

Retreat from what was once a bed of pain,

And murmur sad good-byes?

And does the newly dead

Rejoice that mortal agony is over,

Mingling tears of thankfulness

With sorrow for the parting from the loved ones:

Mother for her little children,

Father for beloved wife and family,

Child for loss of earthly home …

Can the spirit thus released

From all the heaviness of earth

Forget at once the happiness

That came from friends

And all the beauty earth life

Sometimes held …

And leave with no regrets

Or backward glance?

Must the leaving differ greatly

From those poignant moments

When we say good-bye

To take our leave at any time

And be without the company of those we love

For many days of longing loneliness

Or for an interlude of years?