Pilgrimage

The inspiration for this poem…

There are many poems in this collection about my ties to Kansas and the close tie I had to my Grandma Claytie. When asked to sing at her funeral a sort of pilgrimage was set in motion. It started with almost going to Wichita Falls (Texas) rather than Wichita, Kansas, but everything that followed felt like a sacred pilgrimage. Even though we often took the train back in the summer, it was not the same as being here to put her in the ground. During the whole trek everything stood out in vivid colors, smells, and images. Standing in the dusty cemetery; the minister in his dark rimmed glasses his shirt billowing in the wind; the music which was me almost singing acapella, my guitar a faint sound, into the dry air. Since I was not so physically present in her life it was surreal to have made it to her funeral. Since I wasn’t able to be with her when she died, it meant a lot to be with her in this precious moment.

Writing/Meditation Prompts:

• Think about a time when you attended a moving funeral or memorial. Sit yourself there again and soak in what it meant to you.

• Could you write an eulogy for that person? What would you include? Did you leave anything out? What’s left to say, or do?

• Did their obituary say it all? How might you rewrite it?

• If you were to write your own obituary what would you most want to be in it? Could you write it now? In other words, what would you want your very last words to be!?

• Who would you share it with? Who would you give it to, and what instructions would go with it?