Death Is Nothing At All
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other,
that we are still
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference in your time
Wear no forced air of solemnity
or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we
enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me,
pray for me.
Let my name be ever the
household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort,
Without the ghost of a
shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute and
unbroken continuity.
What is death but a
negligble accident?
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you
for an interval,
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
.
