Day 1 Perspective of the Deceased [Natalie]

  ~ a poem in the perspective of the deceased~ 

When I first laid in my grave and 
rest in peace
a heavy tomb covered me

I'm suffocating
I'm compressed
I'm alone
surrounded by sounds of crickets chirping,
birds flapping and cool wind blowing

"In loving memory"
engraved on my gravestone
but will I still be engraved
in the hearts of my family
generations down the road

Once in a blue moon
bright coloured flowers are placed over me
flowers I used to get on my wedding
on my 70th birthday
on the day I was hospitalised
now on me

Not long after
they leave my side
the sharp thorns on the stem of the flowers 
pierce me with great power

but I am blessed
as my neighbours 
enveloped in wilting grass
face unknown
only collecting dust

The most striking image that came to my mind from the journey is the juxtaposition of the graves as some graves were very well-maintained with vibrant-coloured flowers on them while some looked very old, untouched and even broken. I remember walking on the path and on my left the graves even looked like a beautiful flower garden but on my right the graves looked extremely old and broken.

For my poem, I put myself in the shoes of one of the deceased, and talked about how I feel very lonely in the vast, environment and is only surrounded by nature, with very few living human beings. In stanza 3, I start to question if I will really be remembered forever in the hearts of my family, even after generations has passed. In stanza 4 and 5, I express my feelings of sadness and agony as my family members rarely visit me and when they do, they only visit for a short period of time. When they pass me my flowers, I recall all the happy occasions I received flowers but now the flowers represent mourning. However, at the end of the day, I am still thankful that my grave is well-maintained as the graves beside me are filthy and some with no pictures their face, so they are barely remembered. In my poem, even though I am in the position of the deceased, I still express the emotions and feelings of the soul of the person, so that I do not seem literally and figuratively heartless.