"The Leaf Unfurling"

The leaf unfurling in the April air,
The newborn child, the loving parents' care;
These constant, common miracles we share:
Alleluia!

All life is one, a single branching tree,
All pain a part of human misery,
All happiness a gift to you and me:
Alleluia!

The selfsame bells for joy and sorrow ring.
No one can know what the next hour will bring.
We cry, we laugh, we mourn, and still we sing:
Alleluia!

text by Don Cohen

This would be a good funeral song. I do have a collection of those somewhere. I imagine it'll be a fairly eclectic mix, what with the Catholic songs, the Unitarian stuff, the Pagan chants. Anything with an 'alleluia' is good. It's a fun word to sing, joyous in the mouth.

Ah, death, my constant obsession, my continual fear and anxiety monster. This morning I heard about the attack in the mall in Omaha and I felt very sad. Death is all over the news every day, and every single one makes me want to cry. I embrace that grief: as long as I still feel I am still alive, life is still important, not to be taken lightly. This moment is really here, because I don't know what the next will bring. All of these sentiments have become cliches, but it's still all true and real and valued in the life I'm living now. Maybe that's a part of getting older, too: being unafraid to live the cliches, knowing that they are there for a reason, and continually caring less and less what anyone thinks about the perceived geeky-ness of one's life.

Of course, I am still hoping to live to be one hundred and twelve. (In case anyone's listening who could conceivably affect such things.) Wow--I would be such a practiced geek at that point.