John Updike died last Tuesday. Apparently he was working on a poem about his death:It came to me the other day:
Were I to die, no one would say,
'Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise - depths unplumbable!
Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
'I thought he died a while ago.'
For life's a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.
10 comments:
It takes a secure man to write with humor about his own future death. I hope I live to be an old woman so I can have someone read this poem at my service. I love it.
I think the idea of people saying
"I thought he died a while ago" is a very real testament to the fact that you must have lived so long, people think you are dead already! I see it as a compliment for longevity. :)
Susan, I was very interested that you said what you did. I was thinking the opposite, I wouldn't want it to be read it mine. But I would like to become more detached and accept that this is true for us all. The shock of our deaths will not register anywhere but where we are.
Jiva, I know, and Updike wasn't all that old, just 76.
Well, I was kinda thinking if I lived to be, like, 103! And they're all wondering "Is she EVER going to croak?" hehe
Haha.
Very nice.
My dad wrote a poem too before he died, he wanted to be cremated and he wrote a poem about doing the two step across the grill...he had a macabe sense of humor.. and he loved country western dancing.
This is fucking awesome! Thank you!
I heard a great interview with Updike yesterday... it had been recorded 10 years ago... still pertinent... we are sorry he's gone...
Thank you for sharing this poem. He was honest and self-deprecating to the end.
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