when all is said and done

when all is said and done

A Poem by alanwgraham
"

Thoughts on the meaning of our existence!

"

when all is said and done

 

when all is said and done

his final beat and final thought

extinguished

and long we may reflect,

on how we will gauge this man

his dates, of no moment

his earthly span, brief

the barest bones of what he was

his details, sparse and dry

the indisputable facts

carved sharp upon the stone

 

here lies William Brown

born 4th July 1976

died 23rd January 2013

son of Thomas and Mary Brown

 

but where lay that man we knew?

his weft and warp of daily passage

secreted deep within

his hopes and kindnesses

his loves and passions

his creativity and imagination

his patience and generosity

 

perhaps his lesson is for us all

where does a man exist?

lives he sole within himself

a house of fickle memoirs

built on shifting sands

 

no, we are much more

we endure in the memories of others

part of us, begat from parent to child

we ‘are’ in our dreams, truths buried deeply

we endure in what we create

in words, in images, in artefacts

 

not one of these, but all

make us what we are,

and will be!

 

© 2017 alanwgraham


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Featured Review

WOW! This feels like the kind of reminiscing one might do as we walk thru a graveyard & reflect on the barest of details available, trying to guess what kind of person lies beneath & what kind of life they might've lived. I think it's very relatable & straight out of human nature to ponder these things. It's too bad we don't spend more time on such pondering while people are still alive & might enjoy spinning a yarn with us to flesh out the basic details from a gravestone. Such thoughts of mortality are hitting us all as we live thru a time of abundant mass casualties worldwide. It can be numbing, but your poem reminds us to honor each life lost . . . *sigh!* (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

Posted 6 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

Thanks for your wise comments. I have been to several funerals in the last few weeks and these alway.. read more



Reviews

Existence is such a brilliantly painful thing to wrap one's head around. We are bound so tightly to our concept of self, and to our physical form, yet are remembered as the sum of our actions, inactions; relationships, lost connections; all perceived by those witnesses around us.

I'm sorry to hear of your losses, and also of how you've come to contemplate your own mortality - I hope it bears some comfort to know that the written word is a tool of self immortalisation, to help oneself and our beloved recollect how and what we truly are.

-excellent piece

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

alanwgraham

5 Years Ago

Thanks AL for your thoughtful and perceptive review. I'm pleased to say that this didn't come from a.. read more
A deeply philosophical subject, the meaning of our existence. Your poem works really well, and raises interesting questions. As well as enduring 'in the memories of others', and' in what we create in words, in images and artefacts', I like to believe that out thoughts, feelings, ideas etc. also endure out there in the 'great universal consciousness'!

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Great Aunt Astri

6 Years Ago

Oh, you used that rude word .. digital! It only has two digits, and I can't get my mind round it!!! .. read more
alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

I read Jungs theories ages ago when I was a student and the idea of a collective unconscious sounde.. read more
Great Aunt Astri

6 Years Ago

:} .................
It's only what we leave behind do you understand a person's pleasure and pain.a wonderful expression of written words

Posted 6 Years Ago


There comes a time in all our lives
When we must take a look
At what we're leaving in our wake
And what it really took

to leave the world a better place
for having seen our tread.
And know that we've not left disgrace
or something else to dread.

The glimpse at writing that we do
when walking past a tomb
can give us but the barest clue
for what we should make room

Perhaps that lost one 'neath the ground
could tell us all we need
to bring our next great novel 'round
and finish it with speed.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Norbanus

6 Years Ago

I read your introduction and not that you, like me, have considered falling into the 'I'm gonna writ.. read more
alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

Once I started my book I wrote most of it in 4 months, took another year's to finish it. The sequel .. read more
Norbanus

6 Years Ago

I couldn't stop writing even after I passed the logical quitting place. I blamed it on not the infam.. read more
Just discovered this recent piece of yours. Absolutely heart-wrenching. I have no words. A hauntingly beautiful, touching poem. Incredible.

Great work.

- G.W.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

Thanks for your very kind words. I suppose we just have to get on with life and do our best while w.. read more
what legacy will we leave behind? how are lives measured? the people & things we effected? lives we touched? well done & thought provoking.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

Thanks Pete. I have been at several funerals recently and they do focus your thoughts!
Regard.. read more
This excellent poem speaks in ways and words that I fully embrace. I'm also one who walks the stone gardens and thinks in similar ways.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

Thanks Samuel. I haven't heard the term stone gardens before but very emotive. We know what's coming.. read more
WOW! This feels like the kind of reminiscing one might do as we walk thru a graveyard & reflect on the barest of details available, trying to guess what kind of person lies beneath & what kind of life they might've lived. I think it's very relatable & straight out of human nature to ponder these things. It's too bad we don't spend more time on such pondering while people are still alive & might enjoy spinning a yarn with us to flesh out the basic details from a gravestone. Such thoughts of mortality are hitting us all as we live thru a time of abundant mass casualties worldwide. It can be numbing, but your poem reminds us to honor each life lost . . . *sigh!* (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

Posted 6 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

Thanks for your wise comments. I have been to several funerals in the last few weeks and these alway.. read more
Love this
It's truly special

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

alanwgraham

6 Years Ago

Thanks J. I think we are all special!
Regards, alan
You cast a warm and radiant light upon an otherwise ‘stone-cold’ subject (pardon pun please). You eloquently and contemplatively ask the critical question- ‘ What is the sum of a man’s life?’...and answer with a poetic soliloquy on the many noble ways a man’s memory endures. Uplifting, inspiring, heart-felt, stunning. Deeply moving write. Bravo my friend.

Posted 6 Years Ago



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Added on September 27, 2017
Last Updated on October 2, 2017

Author

alanwgraham
alanwgraham

Scotland, United Kingdom



About
Married with three kids, I retired early from teaching physics but have always enjoyed mountains. In my forties I experienced a manic episode which kick-started a creative urge. I've written a novel .. more..

Writing
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