#*In paradisum
deducant te Angeli*
our young voices
sang out sweetly
sounding
like the angels
we invoked
"May the Angels lead you to paradise"
my heart cracked
a little more each time
it was supposed to be an honor
to sing the funeral mass
but amidst sad and lovely music
I heard the crying
felt the grief
from the choir loft you could hear them
sobbing down below
as the priest's solemn chanting
echoed all around
you could see the casket
near the altar
adorned in purple
draped in black
you could smell
the burning candles,
the incense
and the flowers
once when I heard a child cry
it was more than I could take
my tears flowed with the mourners
I was choked
and couldn't sing
all the pain I could imagine,
all anguish
and despair
crept in and
fully broke
what had been merely cracks
from then I never found the music
lovely
so much more than sad
it was bitter and disturbing
to a young
impressionable
mind
May 3, 2018
May 3, 2018 at 8:29 PM UTC
#*In paradisum
deducant te Angeli*
our young voices
sang out sweetly
sounding
like the angels
we invoked
"May the Angels lead you to paradise"
my heart cracked
a little more each time
it was supposed to be an honor
to sing the funeral mass
but amidst sad and lovely music
I heard the crying
felt the grief
from the choir loft you could hear them
sobbing down below
as the priest's solemn chanting
echoed all around
you could see the casket
near the altar
adorned in purple
draped in black
you could smell
the burning candles,
the incense
and the flowers
once when I heard a child cry
it was more than I could take
my tears flowed with the mourners
I was choked
and couldn't sing
all the pain I could imagine,
all anguish
and despair
crept in and
fully broke
what had been merely cracks
from then I never found the music
lovely
so much more than sad
it was bitter and disturbing
to a young
impressionable
mind
Catholic school...6th 7th 8th graders...some as young as ten were taken from the classroom to sing for funerals. Most kids only saw it as a lucky break from school. I grew to loathe it and dread the news of a funeral we were set to sing. Each time added to a pit of indescribable grief inside me. Grief I didn't know what to do with!
