Omar Khayyam (5)translated by Juan Cole
When I die,
prepare my body in wine,
and in place of a eulogy
lift a glass!
On Resurrection Day
you’ll find my dust
stirring beneath
the threshold
of the bar.
From Whinfield 6
Lovely. I'd like such a sendoff.
Image from Wikipedia.
Love this. I have a friend who came out in a lesbian bar in DC -- she was said when she dies she wants us to cut holes in our pockets - put her ashes in them - then dance the night away scattering her on the dance floor.
ReplyDeleteWow! Good idea.
ReplyDeleteI'd like a lot of folks to read Juan Cole regularly. He's a voice of sanity against the war drums now beating for us to attack Iran or encourage Israel to attack Iran. I get flashbacks to the run-up to the war in Iraq.
Compost me, and put me around grape vines---from which you may take grapes to make wine, to toast me! :-)
ReplyDeleteAs you wish, JCF.
ReplyDeleteThe nice woman who runs my high school alumni website drives me crazy by never letting anyone die -- they pass. She doesn't say whether they pass with a C or a B+, or pass by her window, or pass for upper-class. They just "pass," and given the age of my classmates, there are a lot of them.
ReplyDeleteI've asked her to let me DIE when my time comes. She hasn't answered.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. It wouldn't be kind to send it to well-meaning her.
I just kept hearing that song,"And when I die, and when I'm gone, there'll be one child born and a world to carry on."
ReplyDeleteSo, carry on at my funeral. I want GREAT music, lots of laughter, and tables of good food. I do want my ashes someplace. I've learned that it's important to future generations.
Maybe I'll just have a plaque somewhere.
Murdoch, I'm afraid I use pass sometimes, too. I'll be more careful in the future. I agree: when a person dies, they die, They do not pass. I'm too plain-spoken to use euphemisms.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I'll make allowances for those who are left behind to find comfort in their own ways within limits. I want to be ashes, and I do not want to be viewed in a coffin. And send flowers now, rather than then. ;-)
I'd quite like to be buried beneath a fruit tree to contribute whatever's in me to the fruit.
ReplyDeleteGrape vines would certainly do, a la JCF :)
"Lost" is another word that is weird to me to refer to death. I hope I will not be lost when I die. Turn me to ash and spread them on the beach with the sand. Sing fun songs and party. No "Eagle's Wings" or Amazing Grace please. Start with "Put me in Coach, I"m ready to play" and end with "take me out to the ballgame"
ReplyDelete