APRIL 30
Oh, if I had Orpheus’ voice and poetry
with which to move the Dark Maid and her Lord,
I’d call you back, dear love, from the world below.
I’d go down there for you. Charon or the grim
King’s dog could not prevent me then
from carrying you up into the fields of light.
—EURIPIDESIt is a longing we have—to be able to recover the lost, to
bring our dear loves back to life. It is a fantasy, a myth, as
old as there are recorded tales. If only we had the right
words...if only we could get past the guardians of the
dead...
Perhaps these longings, these fantasies, are our way of
getting used to the idea, by trial and error, that this separa-
tion will last as long as our own life lasts.
Not that there won’t be ways our life will continue to be
blessed, to be fed, by the memory and spirit of our loved
one, but in terms of physical presence in this life—it is over.
But perhaps these fantasies also help us keep alive the
hope that on the other side of death we will be re-
united—that there is a place where our loved one is indeed
present, and waits for us.
Could this recurring image of my search for you support a faith
that I may one day find you?