Last Ritual

In deference to keeping her family's privacy, I will not mention her name. Suffice it to say that we gathered in a field, on an unnamed coastal headland, to pay our final respects, to engage in a final ritual of passing. I didn't know everyone, but friends I did recognise, from when we met regularly at her house on special occasions through the year. Post-covid, we have not seen each other for ages, and there was joy in greeting each other again, sadness in knowing this is the last time we will probably come together in this place, now that she has died. This poem is to preserve a memory of that Friday evening.

Last Ritual

Out on the headland, autumn rain
We gather, in respect, in sadness
A heartfelt loss, grief, sorrow, pain
And yet also a farewell gladness

Elements of earth, air, wind, fire
This life is ended, finished, broken
In spirit, not flame, a funeral pyre
A candle lit, words softly spoken

Darkening clouds, a wind is rising
A presence felt, a presence lost
A final ritual, gather, energising
As to distant shores she crossed

We come to pay respects, finality
As she departs into eternity