On remembering departed ones

For remembrance
I do not to the graveside go
Rather look within and around –

To those parts of me now
that are because of who they were
To that part of me that is from experience we share

And to the things we shared together
Orchids and iris in flower
Kookaburras in gum trees

Of love, picnics and journeys,
well cooked food eaten at gatherings
of those who share these remembrances;

for me, so far from that disconnected graveside
in its graveyard of treasured remnants
that are no longer actually there;

the remembrance is the connection
and the connectedness it brings to this present moment;
it is here and now, and how infinite is that?

Not for sharing with those who go to gravesides for remembrance or place crosses by roadsides, lest they feel judged. They do what they must do. However, I do differently.