Goodbye My Dear Friend


He goes free of the earth.

The sun of his last day sets
clear in the sweetness of his liberty.

The earth recovers from his dying,
the hallow of his life remaining
in all his death leaves.

Radiances know him. Grown lighter
than breath, he is set free
in our remembering. Grown brighter
than vision, he goes dark
into the life of the hill
that holds his peace.

He’s hidden among all that is,
and cannot be lost.

Wendell Berry

 

16 Replies to “Goodbye My Dear Friend”

  1. Grief is difficult and I am so sorry for your loss. Your words today express much. Thinking of you my friend.

  2. wow, this one made me cry. And as much as I love the poem, I hadn’t read it in Bev’s honor. Thanks for this entry. I had actually retyped the poem using female pronouns and just read it again. I can’t shake Bev from my mind of late and some odd things are happening that somehow point to her presence. I LOVE the last line and know it to be true: she’s hidden among all that is and cannot be lost. love, M

  3. I just found this. It was linked to the wild strawberries today. I can see the connection. Nature both mirrors and shares our losses, while at the same time providing the consolation of beauty and hope. Thanks for all the connections you make. The Berry poem meant a lot too.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from Leaf And Twig

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading