To Those I Love, by Isla Paschal Richardson

If I should ever leave you
     whom I love
To go along the silent way
     grieve not,
Nor speak of me with tears,
   but laugh and talk
Of me as if I were
     beside you there.
     (I’d come – I’d come,
     could I but find a way!
     But would not tears and grief
     be barriers?)
And when you hear a song
     or see a bird
I loved, please do not let
    the thought of me
Be sad . . . for I am loving you
     just as I always have . . .
You were so good to me!
There are so many things
     I wanted still to do,
So many things
     to say to you . . .
Remember that I
     did not fear . . . it was
Just leaving you that was
     so hard to face . . .
We cannot see Beyond . . .
But this I know:
I loved you so – ’twas heaven here
     with you!