no attachment

I invited three friends to attend
the funerals of two friends I helped attend.
The three friends told me that they
had weddings to go that very same day.

Funerals, of farewell and bitter grief.
Weddings, of togetherness, sweet celebration.
How we come and go, come and go so brief.
How surreal our sadness our jubilation.

Who comes together will surely part.
But who parted too will surely gather.
Just love, just love with all your heart.
Nirvana the way to be always together.

Can I face the passing of my beloved without tears?
Will I not cling to our together years?
Can I be brave, be ready to let go
my beloved who have no choice but to go?

Live on, love on, treasure all,
but with no attachment at all.
Love like this though we have to part,
will never tear us both apart.

One late friend died so suddenly,
it was unsure if in his sleep.
The other's last breaths I was there to see,
release can be painful or it can be sweet.

Time is never on our side.
Death is ever by our side.
Not knowing when death will turn,
when we'll face it, when it is our turn.

Life's greatest test I can attest,
is how well we can handle death.
Life's other test is not to detest,
but to treasure our precious moments left.

Can I face my passing without tears?
Will I not cling to my better years?
Can I be brave, be ready to let go
my beloved who have no choice but to let me go?

What not learnt you will have to learn,
in this life now or in the next,
While living now, your main concern
is to reach the deathless, to not be lax.

Live well then so you will not regret.
So death will never make you fret.
For death is neither foe nor friend,
of life it does it does not truly end.

-shian