Say Goodbye, Say Goodbye

poem

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Funerals are for the living,
	not the dead.
Those who die escape
        the sorrow. They escape
        the dread.
The weeping is for our loss, not theirs.
After death, the dead don't care
about what the priest said

or didn't say. It's the survivors
	who eat the bread
and drink the wine. The eulogies
	are meant
to comfort the afflicted.
	The prayers 
are whispered by the living,
	not the dead.

After the blankets are removed
	from the final bed,
it's the mourners who lament.
In the grave, bodies don't struggle
	for air.
Above ground, it's the bereaved
	who are smothered
	by nightmares.
We who continue are the ones
	who continually repent.
Dear Lord, funerals are held
        for the living,
	not the dead.