Allerheiligen

"When the last person here is dead,
who'll put a tombstone at his head?"

Lenore Eversole Fisher, (1900 - 1990)
Contributing writer to the Indianapolis Star,
the Kokomo paper, and the Poetry Explorer.
Other poems include: "Survivor," "Motif," and "Spring Day."
As you can see from the above collage that I put together in one of my teen - age scrapbooks, I've always known myself to be just a bit like Keats, who was "half in love with easeful Death," and never more so than at this mystical time of year. Fittingly, Keats was born in 1795 on All Hallow's Eve; he loved Autumn, and died young -- "Here lies one whose name was writ in water" -- in 1821.

All Saints and All Souls; Allerheiligen and Allerseelen -- whether in Germany, England, Mexico, or the United States -- these are the days for contemplating mortality and immortality. In Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason , Bridget Jones and her friends are compelled to focus on these issues. When Princess Diana dies, Bridget writes in her diary:

"Is unbelievable. Like dream or sick newspaper April Fool. Is unbelievable. Diana dies is just not kind of thing she would do. . . . Cannot believe it. Is so scary when is obvious no one in authority knows what to do. . . . Seems like the world has gone mad. Is no normality to come back to. . . . Is like Jude or Shazzer being there and full of life and giggly jokes and lip gloss then suddenly being something so grown - up and horror - filled and alien as dead. . . . 'And now Princess Diana is dead,' said Shazzer solemnly. The mood abruptly changed. We all fell silent, trying to absorb this violent, shocking and unthinkable thought" (emphasis added).

A Local Cairn