Poem For the Deceased

“From dust to dust”, they say But that only involves the corporeal body And the stuff we’ve collected over the years Like books and clothes and houses and cars And, and, and. . . These leftovers can be passed from generation to generation Or from friend to friend Or just left behind And they will eventually revert to dust But I trust That the real me Which thinks and loves; Cries, and is attracted to all the above stuff Is not made of dust And therefore, will not return to dust Spirit is a tricky thing to define; To tie down with solid words We share thoughts And smiles and kisses and tears So when I shed this body The real me will go Beyond To happily shake off the dust And rejoin God And leave behind Traces of thoughts And smiles and kisses and tears I plan to remember you And I hope You will remember me