when a child is born,

when a child is born, the spirit of the mother spreads out endlessly and scatters itself all over the world. a million, trillion fingers crashing through sky like the wings of giant birds. paper thin. it becomes one with all things and exists everywhere at the same time. it is omniscient and omnipresent in the aftermath of new life. sometimes, the spirit itself goes out in fragments to visit those whom it has known and loved.

and so it is in death.

again, the spirit explodes out into the universe and touches gently the bodies it will miss. it twists and turns heading off into the abyss of eternity, wherever it is that we continue to live in death. an old man, lying in a bed decides that it is time to leave. he is but skin and bone, white hair and bright eyes. smiling. i wonder so many things. and oh, he will be missed. if you listen closely enough, reach out your hands, and breathe, maybe you too will feel the magnitude of a great and beautiful man drifting off into forever.

Eugene Jefferson Copeland [1915-2002] i thank you as only i can.

Posted by at November 30, 2002 05:33 PM

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