Poems For Funerals. You Can Shed Tears. You can shed tears that he is gone, or, you can smile because he has lived.

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1 Poems For Funerals You Can Shed Tears You can shed tears that he is gone, or, you can smile because he has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that he ll come back, or, you can open your eyes and see all he s left. Your heart can be empty because you can t see him, or, you can be full of love you have shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live for yesterday, or, you can remember happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember him and only that he s gone, or, you can cherish his memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back, or, you can do what he d want: Smile, open your eyes, love and go on. Anon

2 If I should go If I should go before the rest of you, Break not a flower, nor inscribe a stone, Nor, when I m gone, speak in a Sunday voice, But be the usual selves that I have known. Weep, if you must: Parting is hell, But, life goes on So sing as well! Written by Joyce Grenfell Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints in the snow, I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there.

3 I did not die. Anon When Tomorrow Starts Without Me When tomorrow starts without me and I am not there to see, If the sun should rise and find your eyes are filled with tears for me, I wish so much you wouldn t cry, the way you did today, While thinking of the many things we didn t get to say. I know how much you loved me, as much as I loved you and, each time you think of me, I know you ll miss me too. But, when tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand, That an angel came and called my name, and took me by the hand. He said my place is ready in heaven far above, and that I have to leave behind all those I dearly love. But, as I turned to walk away, a tear fell from my eye, For all my life I d always thought that it wasn t my time to die. I had so much to live for and so much yet to do, It seems almost impossible that I was leaving you. I thought of all the yesterdays; the good ones and the bad, I thought of all the love we shared and all the fun we had. If I could have stayed for just a little while,

4 I d say goodbye and kiss you and maybe see you smile. But then I fully realised that this could never be, For emptiness and memories would take the place of me. And when I thought of worldly things that I d miss come tomorrow, I thought of you and when I did, my heart was filled with sorrow. But when I walked through Heaven s gate and felt so much at home, As God looked down and smiled at me from his golden throne. He said This is eternity, and all I ve promised you, Today your life on earth is past, but here it starts anew. I promise no tomorrow, but today will always last, And since each day s the same here, there s no longing for the past. So, when tomorrow starts without me, don t think we re far apart, For every time you think of me, I m right there, in your heart. Death is Nothing Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you;

5 Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we shared together. Play, smile, think of me, Pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effect, without the ghost of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolutely unbroken continuity. What is this death, but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind, because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well. Written by Canon Henry Scott Holland Miss Me, But Let Me Go When I come to the end of the road And the sun has set for me, I want no rites in a gloom filled room Why cry for a soul set free! Miss me a little, but not for long,

6 And not with your head bowed low. Remember the love we once shared, Miss me, but let me go! For this journey we all take, And each must go alone; It s all a part of the master s plan A step on the road to home. When you are lonely and sick of heart Go to the friends we know, And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds, Miss me, but let me go. Written by Robyn Rancman