I prayed to God.
In my prayer I asked God, "If we're so sure of You, then why do we need to grieve?"
The same day that I asked that question, my 8 year old boy saw me crying and said, "Just let it go."
Just to clarify, I asked him,"Let what go?"
He said," You know.... the reason you've been crying.... the funeral."
Then he said, "If it were me, I'd just let it go.... because it just means they're going to heaven."

He smelled like my Dad
Or like Old Spice and Zest
He smelled like a person working on cars
Or of the outdoors
He smelled like fresh milled wood
Or like a shirt worn with sweat
He smelled like our living room
Or like our dog named Stanley
He smelled like green trees
Or like a tavern where an un-known band plays
He smelled like an antique dresser
Or like a vintage vehicle
He smelled like warm buttered toast
Or like fresh brewed coffee
Although his smell's been gone for ages
I can still remember the way he smelled
Sometimes I can still smell him

Enduring a season
Of beautiful sunsets
And gorgeous sunrises
Death was tragic for us
But life was not a tragedy
As the sweaty sticky
Stench of depression
Coats my body
I attempt to cleanse
Myself of it
Crushing waves of sorrow
Deliver the unspeakable
Urgency to challenge faith
Words spoken in time of need
Ailment robbing us
Of what we thought
Was to come
Leaving hollow abyss
Waiting for the flood
Waters to fill
Leaving it's depth a mystery
To unwary onlookers
Leaving us to live
Our lives without tragedy

I'm looking for signs
Blow the candle for me
But make it obvious
More than a flicker please
I might doubt it
What shall I do
With my doubt

Simple Simon
Met a pie man
Sitting in a corner
Simon said
Little Boy Blue
How do you do?
He said
About as good as you

Faces intertwined like
Brambles in my mind
Cold lips give breath no more
Images burned behind my eyes
Much too easy to retrieve
While memories of the love
Of warmth and safety
Stay faded like stone-washed denim
A translucent curtain
Fluttering in the wind expelled
From your last words
Leave me endlessly uncertain