Hello and welcome to today's Read Aloud.
I'm so glad that you joined me today.
The name of the poem we will be reading today is called Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.
I read this at both of my parents' celebrations of life after they passed,
And I always attributed it to Anonymous,
But according to Wikipedia,
This is incorrect.
Actual origins belong to Kansas native Claire Harner,
1909 to 1977,
First published Immortality in the December 1934 issue of Poetry Magazine,
The Gypsy.
It was written shortly after the sudden death of her brother.
Harner's poem quickly gained traction as a eulogy and was read at funerals in Kansas and Missouri.
It was soon reprinted in the Kansas City Times and the Kansas City Bar Bulletin,
And I think that's how it first originally came to me,
Is through a newspaper.
It came into my life when I had a college professor who had lost her son,
Her 21-year-old son,
And I remember finding this poem and thinking this could bring real relief for people that are grieving.
I remember giving it to her,
But I really remember it bringing me real relief and peace,
And I hope it brings that to you too.
Do not stand by my grave and weep.
I am not there.
I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints in snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
As you awake with morning's hush,
I am the swift up flinging rush of quiet birds encircling flight.
I am the day transcending night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there.
I did not die.
Claire Harner,
The Gypsy,
December 1934.
Thank you for joining me today.
Namaste.
