Songs for the Dead

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

from Canto 27, In Memoriam A.H.H., Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Greetings from Chris of Enchanted Oak. This week marks the one-year anniversary of my mother’s final dance here on Planet Earth, which prompts the following prompt:

If you have loved and lost anything at all, jam with us as we write elegies this week. It’s no-holds-barred, no rules at all, except for one: write a poem about the loss of something or someone beloved.

Let’s have elegies for lost hair, lost teeth, lost loves, and lost innocence! Mourn out loud the passing of people or polar ice caps! Let there be wailing and gnashing of teeth! Take a cue from Dylan Thomas and “Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Or say, “so long” lightly, in a limerick like this (by Cosmo Monkhouse):

There was a young lady from Niger,
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.

Whatever you do, may your swan song sing!