I Need Not Keep Your Ashes Poem by Peggy Berge

_I Need Not Keep Your Ashes_


I'll take your ashes and sit outside
Because I miss you so
I hope it'll help me feel you're here
But the significance of ashes, I don't know

So I presume it's to feel you're around
kept in remembrance, to ease the woe
kept as a symbol of you
No

For these ashes are death's glitter
Dry, dull, lifeless, just shades of grey
As I sift my fingers through its depths
I realize this isn't you, there's just no way

You were and are so wonderful...
Ruminative, I disappear into this sight
Sun-illuminated, tubular flowers hang down
Like angels suspended in the bright light

The warm wind that gently brushes me
Coaxes the grass to bow unto the sand
Myriads of birds spread their sweet song
As I begin to understand

For this garden is life's cornucopia
Lush, bright, vibrant, with colours of all hue
As I let this all envelop me
I realise, this is you.