Dead people don't have birthdays

you will get it

No matter how many times
I see the spectacle
that is Graceland

I know dead people don't have birthdays.

So why the f**k
doesn't someone have the courtesy
to close out your facebook?

So I don't have to
be reminded to celebrate
your birthday anymore.

Author's Note

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

oh man! i hear you loud and clear ..how painful the re-opening of a wound ... i have little experience with FB (my choice) but really ..someone should ... my youngest son is in charge of all my on line "stuff" when i take my step on the "journey" :))) he is our go to IT man
the reference to the "King" is perfect ..such gaudy displays by complete strangers year after year after year ... the insensitivity of auto reminders should be subject for far more discussions .. love to you!
E.

[Lyn Anderson]

thank you, been too long

[Einstein Noodle]

yes it has ..am committed to do better :)

[Coyote Poetry]

Dear Poet. The words were direct. I agree. Dead folks don't have birthdays. Announcing a dead person birthday on the Facebook. Could cause sadness. Thank you dear friend for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Lyn Anderson]

Thank you. We all remember those who have passed in our own way, and having people send reminders is hurtful.

[Coyote Poetry]

I agree and you are welcome.

[gutlesswonder]

This is excellent. Really cutting. A very compound and difficult emotion/emotional space cut down to a raw and stripped place. Packs quite a punch.

[Lyn Anderson]

Thank you, I was feeling exactly that way at the time.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i wonder how they feel? would they want to keep being celebrated years after they are gone...with cakes, candles and ghosts blowing them out?

Elvis died for me long before he actually did...
and yes, i want to visit Graceland...but not to celebrate another birthday of his...just to celebrate the life he once had.

[Lyn Anderson]

Exactly. It's not to say I don't reminisce. I just don't dwell.

[Bright Ocean Star]

I know a woman, a fellow boyscout mother, who died while her oldest son was in high school. It was just her, her two boys and her husband, who didn't really have a clue about anything except his job. Friends had to step in and mother those two boys. Her facebook picture is still active, and I think no one took it down, because it is the last connection her boys have to her. Just too sad for words.

[Lyn Anderson]

Honestly I feel it's so unhealthy. All this morbidity.

[Bright Ocean Star]

I just ignore it, or use it as a moment to remember her and say a quick prayer for her. I let her know that her boys are being taken care of, and she doesn't have to worrry. The boyscout community has ralllied around those boys like fierce papa and mama bears. They'll be fine.

[Lyn Anderson]

My great aunt kept my great uncle's voice on her machine for years. It was very eerie, calling and hearing him years later.

[Bright Ocean Star]

Ha-ha! I can see myself doing that. I need to get a new telephone, because my son keeps texting me that he loves me, and I can't bear to delete them. I'm running out of space for anyone else to leave a message!

[NoelHC]

A friend of mine lost his wife to cancer 4 or 5 years ago. She was on Facebook, he knew how to use a spreadsheet and e-mail, but had no grasp of social media. He turned to me for help to close her account. It was not easy to do, but we achieved it.
I can understand how having a reminder come up would be disturbing.
I have a pact with a buddy, should either of us die, the other is to destroy our computer tracks and phone, immediately.

[Lyn Anderson]

It really is awful and morbid. All the postings on her page.

[NoelHC]

As a side note to this, a few days after youpout this up Facebook announced how you can have someone administer your Facebook account after you have passed away. Not sure I need that function somehow.