Poetry for Funerals

by Kate Armon and Craig Smith – Reviewed by Dally Messenger

Mark O’ Connor, the distinguished poet, said that poems at funerals should be understood at the first reading.

The cover of Poetry for Funerals by Kate Armon and Craig Smith calls it a unique collection of poems. I would prefer to call it a collection of unique poems.

There is no such thing as a short cut to a good funeral. The more of the personal there is in the ceremony, the more powerful it is in assisting the grieving group of people to whom that person really meant something.

Celebrants began in Australia. Since their inception they have made a unique contribution to the culture of the western world. We did not have and never have had and do not want the fixed rituals provided by the various religions. We celebrants took on a much harder but more rewarding task. We were challenged to create funerals that were totally personal from the beginning to the end. Our funerals have:-

• a personal welcome, 
• a personal eulogy, 
• personal stories and tributes,
• personal songs and music, 
• a personal committal and 
• •   personal cooperation in its creation by everyone closely involved.

 
Kate and Craig have taken this a step further by writing poems, mostly in rhyming verse, as a tribute to a particular person.

Poems include tributes to carpenters, campers, collectors, coachmen and cowboys. There are poems for jigsaw addicts and mechanics, for hoarders and boarders, golfers and gardeners, bowlers and bikers, farmers and fishermen.

Humanists could be uncomfortable about the many references to the afterlife. The problem is that many believers do not go to the church for a funeral any more. They prefer something more personal. 

My suggestion is that celebrants take the authors’ invitation to adapt any poem to one’s own use. Or if you have it in you, write your own for your client. The list of “blessings” and haikus are written as secular.  The poems make no pretensions to be classic or literary. They are straight out verses for remembering a particular person. In my experience this appeals to most people.

Some verses are almost universal:

A gentle man, so fit and strong, 

you were never one to boast.

Just working hard, from day to day,

For those you loved the most.

For a poem about a loved pet dog..

“You were my family

You were my friend

You loved unconditionally

Right to the end.”

This book is a helpful tool for any celebrant who wishes to support their clients emotionally and assist them in their grief, which Is what we are all about, is it not? 

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