Before Christmas, I visited a man with whom I had kept a weekly appointment for many years. Something inside me insisted that I should visit him. It could be one of the last times I would see him. I followed my inner voice and tried to call him, but the three numbers I had for him didn’t work. So I decided to show up at his house.
Rafael was surprised when he opened the door and saw me there. My good old Rafael was almost unrecognizable. He had once been my psychologist but we had developed a friendship after I stopped going to him. I am fully aware that having a friendly relationship with one’s psychologist is not within the normal framework of rules, but we both followed the deeper knowledge within us and kept in touch. I don’t remember when I had last seen him, but it was a few years ago, and those years had taken their toll.
Rafael was no longer the man I remembered. In his manner of speech, his eyes, his body. It was as if he was waiting for what awaits us all—the great unknown. This poem came to me after I last met him. Through these words, I want to honor him, honor life and, yes, perhaps the new year, which bears the stamp of the eternal cycle of life: life and death. New beginnings and endings.
Accept Me Without Strife
Unexpectedly one day
I ran into DEATH
I met him in someone’s eyes
They could anytime, run out of breath
Death was there, lurking around
Waiting to be invited in
Like a glowing crown
I stared him in the eyes
He was standing tall and high
Manifesting the other side of life
Regardless of the why
That day in my encounter with DEATH
In the silence of the moment
In the waiting room
He was standing tall as the sky
Invisible, but like an ally
Talking with silent words
I will come when the time is up
Wanted
Unwanted
I invite myself in
As a part of life
I show up in different shapes and colors
So accept me without strife
Thank you for taking the time to visit Wise and Shine and reading this post. Follow us here if you like our content. You can also check out my blog, Instagram or Spotify ( Movement Coach Parisa) if you are looking for music or movement inspiration.
It takes guts to accept death. So well written
Thank you🙏 You are for sure right about that. It takes a lots of guts and we all are going there.
Absolutely right.
What an interesting experience to write about! I enjoyed the poem and also the song. I always love your musical selections and I’m glad to “discover” these artists. Thanks!
Oh, thank you so much, Todd. I am glad that the poem resonated with you and that you like the songs I share.
Music is heaven’s language as they say and it definitely moves something in & within us.
As a DJ and dance and movement therapist, I always thank the talented music creators for the passion they put into their creations that again fill our lives with so much movement on various levels. So thank you to
to you who are also a musician.
Thanks Parisa! 🙂 It’s true what you say about music moving us. I appreciate your way of thinking.
I love your poem Parisa! And what about Rafael? Does he know that he inspired a poem to you? Maybe he would be happy about it and he would leave our world peacefully when time will be. It’s not that everyday someone writes a poem for you. So well done!
I have him as a friend on Book of Faces and I have shared posts there too, but I haven’t done more than that, no. But when I asked him how he was doing, he simply replied: I’m just getting older and older. It made me want to know his thoughts about life on the other side, but it didn’t fit then and there.
It must be very strange when you know that there are fewer days here, and the journey to the unknown other side may happen at any time (the silence in the waiting room)
It can also happen to each and every one of us regardless of age, but death rituals have changed so much. They are almost absent in our modern society.🙈that was a long answer from my side. Thank you dear Cristiana for reading, your questions and comments.
I love that you listen to your inner voice, Parisa. Wanted/unwanted/I invite myself in/As a part of life. Such powerful lines. Thank you for sharing!
🙏🌟🧚♀️Wynne for your comment and for taking the time to read it. Have a great weekend with Miss O and Mr D.
Without death, life does not exist. It is the way the universe grows an expands.
One seed dying brings forth a new plant with lots of new life ..,
It is true! Thank you for reading and your sharing.