Hello Poetry
Submit your work and get some sparkles! Create free account
When my Mum passed away she was in a Nursing home a few miles outside of town Out in the country down narrow country roads Amidst the lovely Autumn trees, fields and valleys When you'd be driving out to visit her you'd pass this strange sign "Watch out for Deer" I thought to myself 'I didn't think there was any deer around this part of the country' Then I remembered there was a big Estate nearby I figured the Estate must have brought in some deer 🦌 Anyhow I never seen any But when my Mum died there was some legal complication Apparently she had died in a different medical district So the Coroner had to come the next morning to take away her body So me and my eldest brother thought we should be there too to oversee things. So the Coroner came and took Mum's body away Then we got in our car to go home We drove down the drive to the gate And there right in front of us across the road Looking over the fence of a neighbour's garden (don't know how he got in the garden) Looking right at us Was this fully grown Stag Deer with the big antlers on his head, very majestic looking I had to smile, even laugh to myself That's got to be a sign from Mom, she's doing OK.                                  2 I was at a farewell retirement do for a work colleague a few weeks before Christmas A former colleague of mine Shane came along I hadn't seen him for a long while, he'd gotten a transfer to a Section closer to his own home He looked well and seemed to be the same old Shane Telling his stories... having the craic... He was drinking non-alcoholic beer that night for some reason, said he was on some health regimen thing (He had always liked his few drinks did Shane) At the end of the night when saying goodbye he insisted on shaking people's hands which I thought was a bit unusual "Sure we'll probably see you again in a couple of months, someone else will be leaving/ retiring, I might be leaving myself" I told him The first week back to work in the New Year An email popped up on our computers Shane was dead, apparently he'd had advanced bowel cancer He went into hospital on Christmas Eve A few days later he passed away It all made sense now, when he was shaking our hands it was because he thought he mightened be seeing us again... he was saying goodbye I went to his funeral in a little country town There was no parking at the church And I didn't want to park on the Main Street as they probably had pay-parking And I wouldn't be able to understand the Pay machine So I ended up parking at the other end of town behind some supermarket I had to walk up the whole Main Street to get to the church There was a big crowd, he was a very popular guy It was all very sad I seen some of my work colleagues there, we shared some words after the ceremony I told them I was officially still working that day so better get back to the job As I was walking back down the Main Street Doesn't this crow land in a bin beside me And as I walk on doesn't he fly onto the next bin and then the next bin I look over and say to myself "That Crow, that Crow is following me, he's following me down the street" Now I feed the birds back home and I feed the crows too But I think, That can't be one of my crows, he couldn't have followed me from home, that distance, it's too far away and how could he recognise me, Finally I had to shoo him away, Go away, Go home now, shoo!! And then...then it hit me It was like that old classic Jimmy (James) Stewart movie "Harvey" the Invisible Rabbit I thought "Shane!!!.... it's you isn't it Shane!  It's you up there, you're having a laugh Ha! Ha!" I had to smile.                              3 I lost my nephew a few years ago in a drowning accident It was so sad, so tragic, made no sense I had been the favourite uncle I suppose The one who gives them swings in the garden and kicked football with them My room was full of toys and ornaments and little nicknacks They loved to hang out in my room and we had a TV in the room as well We'd look at a lot of the kids movies We used to spend a lot of time together But when they grew older and went to college They no longer came, they were growing up, had their own friends now It was sad for me, now the garden was quiet and so was the room, the toys they used play with were still there..... I was working one day from home and suddenly my mobile phone rang I could see it was my eldest brother I thought That's funny he never rings my mobile phone, he always uses my house phone I got a feeling there was something wrong My brother said Peter had gone missing, he hadn't come home They were flying out to try and find him... The day after the funeral I was still getting phone calls and texts from people offering condolences I was sending them replies but after all that had gone on I suddenly felt very tired So I decided to switch off my phone and take a nap It's funny but I can't remember ever having a dream about my nephew or any of my nieces before But when I closed my eyes, it might have been one of those strange dreams I get sometimes I was looking at myself sitting at the end of this long table A younger version of Peter was sitting on my right side I couldn't see who was sitting at the top of the table, if there was anyone Suddenly Peter rises and turns around There's a door behind his chair, he goes to it Then a voice from the top of the table says "That's Peter's room!" I ask Can I take a look then I rise and go in There's a bed right in front of you I thought that's a bad place to put a bed, you could be in a draught from the door there On the left was a desk or bureau, on the top of the desk were about five or six stories of all these little black drawers going across On the right side was a glass case with some flat capped toy soldiers in it Peter was playing with something on the floor I got down to see what the game was... Then I was awoken by some noise from next door My neighbour had started banging at something Of course I didn't understand it, the dream... what it meant But... but I'm glad I had it...the experience It proved to be a comfort to me...a very real comfort. Watch out! Watch out for the Signs.
0
Oct 26, 2025
Oct 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM UTC
(Watch out for) The Signs
When my Mum passed away she was in a Nursing home a few miles outside of town Out in the country down narrow country roads Amidst the lovely Autumn trees, fields and valleys When you'd be driving out to visit her you'd pass this strange sign "Watch out for Deer" I thought to myself 'I didn't think there was any deer around this part of the country' Then I remembered there was a big Estate nearby I figured the Estate must have brought in some deer 🦌 Anyhow I never seen any But when my Mum died there was some legal complication Apparently she had died in a different medical district So the Coroner had to come the next morning to take away her body So me and my eldest brother thought we should be there too to oversee things. So the Coroner came and took Mum's body away Then we got in our car to go home We drove down the drive to the gate And there right in front of us across the road Looking over the fence of a neighbour's garden (don't know how he got in the garden) Looking right at us Was this fully grown Stag Deer with the big antlers on his head, very majestic looking I had to smile, even laugh to myself That's got to be a sign from Mom, she's doing OK.                                  2 I was at a farewell retirement do for a work colleague a few weeks before Christmas A former colleague of mine Shane came along I hadn't seen him for a long while, he'd gotten a transfer to a Section closer to his own home He looked well and seemed to be the same old Shane Telling his stories... having the craic... He was drinking non-alcoholic beer that night for some reason, said he was on some health regimen thing (He had always liked his few drinks did Shane) At the end of the night when saying goodbye he insisted on shaking people's hands which I thought was a bit unusual "Sure we'll probably see you again in a couple of months, someone else will be leaving/ retiring, I might be leaving myself" I told him The first week back to work in the New Year An email popped up on our computers Shane was dead, apparently he'd had advanced bowel cancer He went into hospital on Christmas Eve A few days later he passed away It all made sense now, when he was shaking our hands it was because he thought he mightened be seeing us again... he was saying goodbye I went to his funeral in a little country town There was no parking at the church And I didn't want to park on the Main Street as they probably had pay-parking And I wouldn't be able to understand the Pay machine So I ended up parking at the other end of town behind some supermarket I had to walk up the whole Main Street to get to the church There was a big crowd, he was a very popular guy It was all very sad I seen some of my work colleagues there, we shared some words after the ceremony I told them I was officially still working that day so better get back to the job As I was walking back down the Main Street Doesn't this crow land in a bin beside me And as I walk on doesn't he fly onto the next bin and then the next bin I look over and say to myself "That Crow, that Crow is following me, he's following me down the street" Now I feed the birds back home and I feed the crows too But I think, That can't be one of my crows, he couldn't have followed me from home, that distance, it's too far away and how could he recognise me, Finally I had to shoo him away, Go away, Go home now, shoo!! And then...then it hit me It was like that old classic Jimmy (James) Stewart movie "Harvey" the Invisible Rabbit I thought "Shane!!!.... it's you isn't it Shane!  It's you up there, you're having a laugh Ha! Ha!" I had to smile.                              3 I lost my nephew a few years ago in a drowning accident It was so sad, so tragic, made no sense I had been the favourite uncle I suppose The one who gives them swings in the garden and kicked football with them My room was full of toys and ornaments and little nicknacks They loved to hang out in my room and we had a TV in the room as well We'd look at a lot of the kids movies We used to spend a lot of time together But when they grew older and went to college They no longer came, they were growing up, had their own friends now It was sad for me, now the garden was quiet and so was the room, the toys they used play with were still there..... I was working one day from home and suddenly my mobile phone rang I could see it was my eldest brother I thought That's funny he never rings my mobile phone, he always uses my house phone I got a feeling there was something wrong My brother said Peter had gone missing, he hadn't come home They were flying out to try and find him... The day after the funeral I was still getting phone calls and texts from people offering condolences I was sending them replies but after all that had gone on I suddenly felt very tired So I decided to switch off my phone and take a nap It's funny but I can't remember ever having a dream about my nephew or any of my nieces before But when I closed my eyes, it might have been one of those strange dreams I get sometimes I was looking at myself sitting at the end of this long table A younger version of Peter was sitting on my right side I couldn't see who was sitting at the top of the table, if there was anyone Suddenly Peter rises and turns around There's a door behind his chair, he goes to it Then a voice from the top of the table says "That's Peter's room!" I ask Can I take a look then I rise and go in There's a bed right in front of you I thought that's a bad place to put a bed, you could be in a draught from the door there On the left was a desk or bureau, on the top of the desk were about five or six stories of all these little black drawers going across On the right side was a glass case with some flat capped toy soldiers in it Peter was playing with something on the floor I got down to see what the game was... Then I was awoken by some noise from next door My neighbour had started banging at something Of course I didn't understand it, the dream... what it meant But... but I'm glad I had it...the experience It proved to be a comfort to me...a very real comfort. Watch out! Watch out for the Signs.
Just some strange events that happened after people had passed away.
Written by
62/M/Ireland
Oct 26, 2025
Oct 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM UTC
Request permission to use this poem