27 Feb: "On the Death of a Colleague" by Stephen Dunn

On the Death of a Colleague 

She taught theater, so we gathered
in the theater.
We praised her voice, her knowledge,
how good she was
with Godot and just four months later
with Gigi.
She was fifty. The problem in the liver.
Each of us recalled
an incident in which she'd been kind
or witty.
I told about being unable to speak
from my diaphragm
and how she made me lie down, placed her hand
where the failure was
and showed me how to breathe.
But afterwards
I only could do it when I lay down
and that became a joke
between us, and I told it as my offering
to the audience.
I was on stage and I heard myself
wishing to be impressive.
Someone else spoke of her cats
and no one spoke
of her face or the last few parties.
The fact was
I had avoided her for months.

It was a student's turn to speak, a sophomore,
one of her actors.
She was a drunk, he said, often came to class
reeking.
Sometimes he couldn't look at her, the blotches,
the awful puffiness.
And yet she was a great teacher,
he loved her,
but thought someone should say
what everyone knew
because she didn't die by accident.

Everyone was crying. Everyone was crying and it
was almost over now.
The remaining speaker, an historian, said he'd cut
his speech short.
And the Chairman stood up as if by habit,
said something about loss
and thanked us for coming. None of us moved
except some students
to the student who'd spoken, and then others
moved to him, across dividers,
down aisles, to his side of the stage.

3 comments:

  1. We never really know what people are going through behind the scenes. In some people's eyes this was a happy woman, a talented woman, a woman who was good at her job. But she was suffering. So many times we don't realize suffering in others or ourselves before these tipping points occur. How can we better be aware of those around us and be a helping hand before having to write a eulogy such as this?

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  2. When we only share one side of someone, we subtly imply that any flaws are unaccepted. It's awkward to acknowledge each other's flaws--but it's also part of love.

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  3. Funerals are odd places.

    Do the speaker's avoid her flaws because of their own guilt. The sophomore tells it how it is. Is everyone still there because they feel guilty?


    "Everyone was crying. Everyone was crying and it/was almost over now."

    I love the verb tense with now. It was (past) almost over now (present).

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