"The Loved Ones"

"The loved ones we call the deaddepart from us and for a whileare absent. And then as ifcalled back by our love, they comenear us again. They enter our dreams.We feel they have been near uswhen we have not thought of them.They are simply here, simply waitingwhile we are distracted amongour obligations. At lastit comes to us: They live nowin the permanent world.We are the absent ones."

"They enter our dreams.We feel they have been near uswhen we have not thought of them.They are simply here, simply waitingwhile we are distracted amongour obligations. At lastit comes to us: They live nowin the permanent world.We are the absent ones."

The loved ones called the dead depart and remain absent for a period. Love can summon them close again, and they sometimes return in dreams and quiet impressions. People may feel that they have been near even when the mind has not been consciously thinking of them. The dead are simply present, waiting near while the living become absorbed by obligations and distractions. Over time a realization dawns that the dead live in a permanent world, a steady presence beyond daily concerns. In that recognition the living emerge as the ones who are absent from that enduring reality.

Read at The New Yorker