[Oe List ...] On the Subject of Death and Dying

[Judi White]

Thank you Milan. When my partner died 7 years ago, I listened to Cohen for
weeks b4 letting his memory go.  It was good to feel the grief sing its way
home.

Memories of Joy and Gene and Larry, even though their bidies are very dead,
will continue by what we have learnrd with their presence on Earth.
Grieve peacefully, judi White

On Sat, Aug 23, 2025, 1:36 PM Milan Hamilton via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
wrote:

> We watched a podcast last weekend by our "climate mentor" Nate Hagens
> interviewing Stephen Jenkinson, author of Die Wise: A manifesto for Sanity
> and Soul (2015), who quipped during the conversation "Yeah, everybody knows
> that somebody else is dying." The discussion centered on our culture's
> baked in way of (not) dealing seriously with death and grief as deep
> experience (different from loss of someone or something and moving on).
> This of course brought up our history in the Order: Ecumenical. Then to be
> smacked up against THREE of US making that transition in mystery in the
> same week! Will our grieving be able to honor them? Will our grieving for
> the earth and her beings be up to the task. Or will we just be sorry for
> the loss of them and move on? I offer the following poem from our common
> library on the subject of death and dying, and one I wrote in response to
> the quote I mentioned.
>
> dying is fine)but Death <https://allpoetry.com/dying-is-fine)but-Death>
>
> e. e. cummings, 9written 1931, published 19350
>
>
>
> dying is fine)but Death
>
> ?o
> baby
> i
>
> wouldn't like
>
> Death if Death
> were
> good:for
>
> when(instead of stopping to think)you
>
> begin to feel of it,dying
> 's miraculous
> why?be
>
> cause dying is
>
> perfectly natural;perfectly
> putting
> it mildly lively(but
>
> Death
>
> is strictly
> scientific
> & artificial &
>
> evil & legal)
>
> we thank thee
> god
> almighty for dying
> (forgive us,o life!the sin of Death
>
>
>
> “I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
> – Woody Allen
>
> *Everybody Knows*
>
> “Everybody knows that everybody else is dying.”  – Stephen Jenkinson
>
> *Written after listening to Leonard Cohen’s 1988 release he wrote with
> Sharon Robinson*
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     That everybody else is dying
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     That the planet is frying
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     That everybody else ain’t trying
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     The grim reaper is smiling
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     That there is no buy-in
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     That everybody else is lying
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     That somebody’s crying
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     There’s no use in sighing
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     That *EVERY-BODY ELSE* is dying
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     Everybody knows
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     Everybody knows
>
> Everybody knows
>
>                                     Everybody knows . . .
>
> Milan Hamilton
>
> August 19, 2025
>
>
> Here is a link to the poem put to music and published on my YouTube
> channel as part of my offering to our grieving and honoring process:
>
> https://youtu.be/mbW87WBsObY
> --
> Mellow Milan Hamilton
> 80 North Center Street
> Redlands, CA 92373
> Phone: (909) 943-1667
> email: mellowmilan2 at gmail.com
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>
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