• I Am Not Gone

    I am not gone
          While you cry with me
    I am not gone
         While you smile with me
    I am not gone
         While you remember with me

    I will come
        When you call my name
    I will come
        When I feel your pain
    I will come
        On your final day

    It could never be
        That we
              Would never be

    We shall always
         Be together
             Forever

    I am not gone

    Michael Ashby

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  • A Long Cup Of Tea

    Death is too negative for me
    So I'll be popping off
    For a long cup of tea
    Do splash out
    On two bags in the pot
    And for my god's sake
    Keep the water hot
    Please pick the biggest mug
    You can find
    Because size really does matter
    At this time
    I'll pass on the Lapsang
    With that Souchong
    And that stuff with bergamot
    And stick with my favourite friend
    You know the English breakfast blend
    Breakfast! thanks for reminding me
    There's just time before I fail
    To stand on ceremony
    Two rashers of best smoked back
    Should keep me smelling sweet
    Up the smoke stack
    So, mother, put the kettle on for me
    It's time, mother, for my long cup of tea

    Michael Ashby

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  • Golden Moments

    My life has been a mirage
    Built on shifting sands
    And now my time of liquid gold
    Has flowed from my hands

    The precious seconds, minutes and hours
    The priceless weeks, months and years
    End in my new oasis
    With welcoming forbears

    Michael Ashby

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  • Just In Case

    I wonder if
    My atheist friend
    Risked a quick prayer
    Right at the end
    Just in case
    He was wrong
    After all
    About what would happen
    After his last
    Curtain call
    Finally realizing
    That I might
    Just be right
    And that he
    Wasn't alone
    On his longest night

    Michael Ashby

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  • Rainbows On The Moon

    There are rainbows on the moon
    There are clouds in outer space
    The night has stayed in mourning
    Since I passed away too soon

    There are rainbows on the moon
    There are colours crying in tiers
    The solar wind is wailing
    Since I passed away too soon

    I shine with the Northern Lights
    I shine with the waning moon
    I shine with the shooting stars
    Since I passed away too soon

    Now one zillion candles
    Are shining all around me
    One zillion and one candles
    For my life on earth to see

    Michael Ashby

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  • My Mum

    Where did it go?
    My mother once asked
    As the clock tick-tocked
    And her life flew past
    In the race against time
    She led for most of the way
    But the track was endless
    Unlike her last day
    Take care of your father
    Promise you will
    As she passed on the baton
    She would never spill
    So polish the stars
    And fire up the sun
    And put out some slippers
    To welcome my mum
    Find a new galaxy
    And light up her name
    Because life on planet Earth
    Just won't be the same

    Michael Ashby

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  • One Last Flutter

    I've always gone with the roll of the dice
    But now my numbers up
    And since I'm the one down below
    There must be six up top

    I always knew the odds were against me
    So it's time for one last flutter and sin
    I'm going to bet on heaven not hell
    God knows if I'll end with a win

    Michael Ashby

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  • Milking The Moments

    We only have today
    In fact, we only have now
    It’s such a chilling thought
    I’m so glad I’m not a cow

    My insides would churn
    And turn into ice cream
    I would be the biggest milkshake
    That the world had ever seen

    We only have today
    In fact, we only have now
    I’m so glad I milked my moments
    But I’m even gladder I wasn’t a cow

    Michael Ashby

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  • I Want To Be Buried With My Mobile Phone

    I want to be buried with my mobile phone
    So I can ring in the changes at my new home
    With central heating and a marble en-suite
    And lots of thermal socks for my poor cold  feet
    I'll be able to give in to a takeaway
    And watch favourite movies on a rainy day
    And if I'm feeling a bit under the weather
    I'll talk to you until I begin to feel better

    I've got party hats, fairy cakes and songs to sing
    In case somebody should chance to drop in
    Which is much more likely than you'd think
    As my coffin roof is on the blink

    I'll be leaving you now as I've got a waiting call
    It's from my new friend over by the cemetery wall
    I watched the service yesterday through my periscope
    They buried him with his mobile, their little joke
    But he'll have the last laugh, when his bill drops through their door
    Fourteen hundred and forty minutes a day, for eternity and evermore

    Michael Ashby

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  • A Brief Matter

    Life is
    Short
    But death
    Takes
    A heartbeat

    Michael Ashby

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  • A Leap Of Faith

    I was coming home
    I was coming home to die
    I was coming home to die
    In my own bed
    Although buoyed by this hope
    I could feel my strength ebbing
    As I struggled against the tide of life
    That had finally turned against me
    Suddenly, the world erupted
    Into turbulence and confusion
    I had reached the last hurdle
    I would now have to overcome
    With all the power remaining
    In my mortal being
    I leapt free from earths’ pull
    And soared through the air
    I am McSalmon
    Of the Salmonidae
    I was home
    I was home to die
    I was home to die
    In my own bed

    Michael Ashby

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  • Sun Arise

    God woke his sun
    For me this morning
    Just for me
    Just for me
    And set about
    The sea awarming
    Just to see
    Just to see
    How he, me
    His sun and the sea
    Could just be
    Could just be
    How he, me
    His sun and the sea
    Could just be

    Michael Ashby

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  • Ghosts Of The Fallen

    The ghosts of the fallen are all agreed
    Something may be wrong with the warrior's creed
    For a shot of death brings icy clarity
    And deep, deep sadness to a new reality
    Where there's no way forward and there's no way back
    To life before the last bloody attack
    Knowing families and friends lie waiting in their homes
    To be shot through their heads with their telephones

    At peace at last in the universe
    About just one question the ghosts converse
    To put to the ones whose orders were writ
    Was the loss of our lives really worth it?

    Michael Ashby

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  • We Are Not Gone

    We are not gone
             While you cry with us
    We are not gone
             While you smile with us
    We are not gone
             While you remember with us

    We will come
             When you call our names
    We will come
             When we feel your pain
    We will come
            On your final day

    It could never be
            That we
    Would never be

    We shall always
           Be together
    Forever

    Michael Ashby

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  • Swan Song

    The swan silently
    Crossed the river
    No reflection, no ripple
    In her wake
    Lit by a moving sunbeam
    She crossed the water
    Just, for my sake

    I sat down aboard her back
    As her head turned to me
    And she looked deeply into my eyes, asking
    Are you really, really, ready
    I nodded, as tears rained, from my face
    To join countless others in their river

    The swan started swimming,
    And slowly singing
    The most beautiful music
    I had ever heard in my life
    And then the swan
    Suddenly changed, from black,
    Into a dazzling white
    And I stopped crying, and started smiling
    As together, we crossed over
    Into the most brilliant of light

    Michael Ashby

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  • A Miscarriage Of Justice

    Death is guilty
    Life is innocent
    But death delivers
    A life sentence

    Michael Ashby

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  • Swan Song

    The swan silently
    Crossed the river
    No reflection, no ripple
    In her wake
    Lit by a moving sunbeam
    She crossed the water
    Just, for my sake

    I sat down aboard her back
    As her head turned to me
    And she looked deeply into my eyes, asking
    Are you really, really, ready
    I nodded, as tears rained, from my face
    To join countless others in their river

    The swan started swimming,
    And slowly singing
    The most beautiful music
    I had ever heard in my life
    And then the swan
    Suddenly changed, from black,
    Into a dazzling white
    And I stopped crying, and started smiling
    As together, we crossed over
    Into the most brilliant of light

    Michael Ashby

Welcome

Welcome to the modern funeral poetry of Michael Ashby, and famous death poems by:

Here you will find popular funeral, bereavement and eulogy memorial poems that can be used for uplifting and inspirational, or sad memoriam verses for a funeral program.
 

You are free to read or say any of these poems at funeral services, speeches  and readings for your special dead departed.
 

We sincerely hope you find on thefuneralpoem.com’s website the sympathy tribute poems that you are seeking either for yourself,
 

or as you remember your loved one at the funeral or memorial service of your husband, wife, partner, mother, mum, mom, father, dad, brother, sister, child, baby, infant, grandmother, grandma, nana, grandfather, granddad, uncle, aunt, family friend or pet.

 

(For those of you searching for humerous, witty & funny funeral poems, we have recently included " I Want To Be Buried With My Mobile Phone " and " Milking The Moments ".)