Need a poem for a funeral

[StrippingTheVelvet]

I've been asked to read a poem for a colleague's funeral. He had no family or life really outside of work. We are all desperately sad and were all very fond of him but I don't want to overstep any boundaries with something that might be seen as disingenuous or OTT from someone who didn't overly know him. Any suggestions?

Miss Me But Let Me Go
Author Unknown

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free!
Miss me a little — but not for long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me, but let me go.
For this journey that we all must take
And each must go alone;
It’s all a part of the Master’s plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know,
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss me, but let me go.

There are quite a few here:www.thefuneralpoem.com/9/michael-ashby-poems

do you want modern or traditional?

I also like Time Will Heal The Hurt by Bruce Wilmer

Tennyson, Crossing the Bar.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Did he have a religion?

No he definitely wasn't religious. He had a learning disability and so there will be a few attending with extra needs also so I would like something simple enough that they can also understand if that's not too big an ask.

If I Should Go — Joyce Grenfell
If I should go before the rest of you

Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone

Nor when I'm gone speak in a Sunday voice

But be the usual selves that I have known

Weep if you must

Parting is hell

But life goes on

So sing as well.

I Am There - Iris Hesselden
Look for me when the tide is high
And the gulls are wheeling overhead
When the autumn wind sweeps the cloudy sky
And one by one the leaves are shed
Look for me when the trees are bare
And the stars are bright in the frosty sky
When the morning mist hangs on the air
And shorter darker days pass by.

I am there, where the river flows
And salmon leap to a silver moon
Where the insects hum and the tall grass grows
And sunlight warms the afternoon
I am there in the busy street
I take you hand in the city square
In the market place where the people meet
In your quiet room - I am there

I am the love you cannot see
And all I ask is - look for me

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Poems by Henry Scott Holland : 1 / 1

Death Is Nothing At All - Poem by Henry Scott Holland
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Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
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 effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
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.

Nothing is past; nothing is lost.

One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Source: www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/death-is-nothing-at-all-by-henry-scott-holland

Henry Scott Holland

I like the Joyce Grenfell poem, but it's not for everyone.

If I Should Go - Joyce Grenfell
Often Called - If I Should Die

If I should go before the rest of you
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone
Nor when I'm gone speak in a Sunday voice
But be the usual selves that I have known
Weep if you must
Parting is hell
But life goes on
So sing as well.

@glasshouse - great minds think alike

W B Yeats, The Lake Isle of Innisfree.
A friend read this at his Dad's funeral recently, it felt very calm and positive. It was written to be read aloud, so flows well.

Pick more daisies by Nadine Stair

If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances.
I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day.
Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them.
In fact, I'd try to have nothing else.
Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.
I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute.
If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.

Indian Prayer

When I am dead
Cry for me a little
Think of me sometimes
But not too much.

Think of me now and again
As I was in life
At some moments it‘s pleasant to recall
But not for long.

Leave me in peace
And I shall leave you in peace
And while you live
Let your thoughts be with the living.

'He is Gone' by David Harkins. We had it at DD's funeral (as she is gone). DD also had a learning disability.

Late Fragment by Raymond Carver. Short but beautiful.

I love Eli Jenkins Prayer from Dylan Thomas's Under Milkwood:

Every morning when I wake,
Dear Lord, a little prayer I make,
O please do keep Thy lovely eye
On all poor creatures born to die

And every evening at sun-down
I ask a blessing on the town,
For whether we last the night or no
I’m sure is always touch-and-go.

We are not wholly bad or good
Who live our lives under Milk Wood,
And Thou, I know, wilt be the first
To see our best side, not our worst.

O let us see another day!
Bless us all this night, I pray,
And to the sun we all will bow
And say, good-bye – but just for now!

I have just looked up the one suggested above, "he is gone"
Really lovely

This one by Robert Burns was read at a recent funeral I went to. Very simple and very moving.

@BrizzleMint - definitely. I could have sworn there was nothing there when I posted. The vagaries of MN . Love the poem though and not many seem to have heard of it.

BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

Fear no more the heat of the sun. From Cymbeline.

Thank you everyone. 'He is Gone' is so fitting BigBlue. I'm so very sorry you lost your daughter. Thank you for suggesting something with such meaning for you .

Thank you StrippingTheVelvet. We thought it was just so appropriate for DD - and was actually chosen by my FIL who was unable to attend the funeral due to age/distance so it was a way of including him.

Good luck with reading the poem at the funeral. I hope all goes well and that your colleague gets the send off he deserves.