Tuesday, November 13, 2007

TED BERRIGAN ON DEATH

"The heart stops briefly when someone dies,
a quick pain as you hear the news, & someone passes
from your outside life to inside. Slowly the heart adjusts
to its new weight, & slowly everything continues, sanely."

—Ted Berrigan from "Things to do in Providence"

4 comments:

-K- said...

Last night, driving to Trader Joes just before closing time, I turned on the radio and was very surprised to hear Garrison Keilor read “I Used to Be but Now I Am” by Berrigan. Last line, as I recall, "I use to be a believer but now I, alas, believe".

Anonymous said...

It's beautifully written, but I don't agree with the last line at all, based on my own experience with death.

VANITAS said...

I love this quote. I was looking for it to share with a young friend shaken by Bowie's passing and am glad to find it here. Peace out. V

Lally said...

I've used it at funerals often...says perfectly what I feel in these situations...