Thursday, June 7, 2012

Passing














Passing


Of all the words
for death
the best is passing --
passing by
passing through
passing out.
"She passed," they say,
and I can see her driving:
her scarf, red lips,
and jaunty little wave;
or passing through,
she shrugs, apologizing,
squeezing through
the crowd along the way.
Or best of all,
I see her at a party,
weaving, woozy,
grinning ear-to-ear.
Calling for her designated driver,
She snaps her fingers,
"Come and take me home."


Location:Passing

17 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorites of yours, dealing with what can be such a heavy subject with just the right amount of heart and humor. Curious why you didn't mention passing away or passing on, though... those are the two I usually think of.

    But I say that as a linguist. I've had extended discussions about how "pass" transforms depending which preposition you stick on it. :)

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  2. Karen, this is so beautiful. I like to think my Grandfather 'passed on', as though he had better and more urgent things to do elsewhere.

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  3. Let us not leave out Passing the torch to the next generation Karen. I think I will just be found passed out or passed around like a party tray, that's be kind of cool too..

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  4. The last line, does it for me, round sit off and finishes the passing

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  5. It's all about the passing of time with lots of colour along the way! Very creative!

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  6. A lot of humor here, Karen! Yes, get the escort's attention by the snap of the fingers 'and let's go home'. Great write!

    Hank

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  7. Fabulous! The red lips, the snap of the fingers --- what well-chosen imagery! A great write.

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  8. Wooohooo...what a great piece. Weirdly reminded me of a Stephen King Storyt called Mrs. Todd's Shortcut. This is a wonderful way of thinking of it...I definitely want to "pass" this way. Great writing.

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  9. Perfect! I see her too ...........

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  10. I LOVE this apparent lightness and sweetening of death.

    I read this with all possible passings, including the pun-full and painful possibility that it was passing drunk in a car which marked her passing so that this is the image forever recurring. Maybe this reading reflects more of my own experience than your poem.

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  11. You have captured her so well I can see her. I love her snap of the fingers at the end. She is so alive, till the very last moment, in "passing".

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  12. i couldn't agree more... passing through to whatever's next... passing out of this realm and into another... passing time~literally from a quantum physics perspective... passing.

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  13. Wow! I never thought of death as passing as the way you have described it. Unique and interesting!

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  14. This is terrific! I do agree that 'passing' is a good word...passing from one life to another. I do like the description you gave of 'her.' You brought her to life with only a few words. I haven't read a lot of your poetry, but if this is how you write then I will def be back!

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  15. Wow I usually don't care so much for poems about death but yours was really nice. Great feeling here.

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  16. Wow! The freedom is intoxicating. I won't look at passing away in quite the same way. I'll see/her him passing by. :)

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