Let me start by saying this post combines two things I don’t generally indulge in – chain letters and poetry. Hear me out.

A few days ago, a former colleague and cherished friend included me in a chain letter of sorts. The email, with as many personal caveats and parenthetical as I typically employ (now that I think of it, of course we’re friends!), explained that I was to send a bit of poetry to the first name on the list, then add my name, blah blah blah. If this particular email had been from anyone else, into the recycle bin it would have gone. But I really dig this lady’s brain, you see, so on I read. As it happens, another fiercely fabulous friend had posted something she’d penned just that day, and it seemed like the perfect fit. So, miraculously, I played along. Although it wasn’t in the instructions, I replied to the sender, thanking her for including me and letting her know what I had sent along. She responded with her submission and one of those she herself received from a stranger. They both made me cry. And think.

And so here it is. I’m not much of a chain letter gal, but I do like the idea of sharing something that moves us. So below are the poem posted by my friend and the poem my sender friend shared. (As it turns out, the piece she received in response to the letter is something I actually wrote about in 2015.)

Let a blessed coolness ruffle the bad tempers and inflamed hearts of aggressors domestic and foreign.
Let love in to keep our hearts and minds open despite a turbulent beginning to this year.
Rest well. Dream sweetly.
We will try again tomorrow.
We must try again tomorrow.

– Jenn Yarosh

Epitaph By Merrit Malloy

When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.

Look for me
In the people I’ve known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live on in your eyes
And not your mind.

You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands,
By letting bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.

Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.

You can guess what comes next, right? If you have something you’d like to share, be it a favorite piece of poetry, a lyric, story, or even a blog post, feel free to share it in the comments below. I really look forward to seeing what you come up with!