Family

I?ve had the following 2 poems for ages, ever since reading them they?ve stuck with me. They?re ?old? but I think they?re timeless. It took a few days of digging through moving boxes to find them. Hope to have some photos to post soon, but haven?t come across the albums yet. – Claire

I?M ONLY IN THE NEXT ROOM

Death is nothing at all.

I have only slipped away into the next room.

I am I, and you are you.

Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used.

Put no difference in your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,

let it be spoken without effort, without a trace of shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was; there is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner.

All is well.

Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918), Canon of St. Paul?s Cathedral

LITTLE BOY BLUE

The little toy dog is covered with dust,

But sturdy and staunch he stands;

The little toy soldier is red with rust,

And the musket moulds in his hands.

Time was when the little toy dog was new,

And the soldier was passing fair;

And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue

Kissed them and put them there.

?Now, don?t you go till I come,? he said,

?And don?t you make any noise!?

And toddling off to his trundle bed,

He dreamt of the pretty toys.

And as he was dreaming,

An angel song awakened our Little Boy Blue ?

Oh! The years are many, the years are long,

But the little toy friends are true!

Aye, faithful to the Little Boy Blue they stand,

Each in the same old place ?

Awaiting the touch of a little hand,

The smile of a little face;

And they wonder, as waiting the long years through

In the dust of that little chair,

What has become of our Little Boy Blue,

Since he kissed them and put them there?

-Eugene Field

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2004 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Family Posted. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One comment

 No.1 
Mara Martin:

There is only one way to describe the Red Sox victory: CAILEAN!!!!!!!
Unbelieveable!
He absolutely no questions asked had something to do with this.

October 21st, 2004 at 6:07 am

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