Saturday, November 12, 2011

THE CEMETERY PHOTOGRAPHER

People often ask me why I spend my free time in cemeteries, photographing tombstones of people I have never met and are not my relatives.  I recently stumbled upon a poem that pretty well sums it up:

THE CEMETERY PHOTOGRAPHER

Wandering among the stones I see
The stones so weathered and worn
‘Tis difficult to find the date
On which the babe was born

I stare at the stone and am struck with awe
At the life that I knew was gone
This was someone's child, a babe so sweet
With loved ones to carry on

So I take a photo for all to see
For the family that remains
An everlasting memory of
A child of God's domain

I brush the weeds back from the stone
And say a silent prayer
For the babes that had no chance to live
And for mothers everywhere

The dove calls out it's mourning song
Among the stones so still
Echoes of the woes, through time
The choirs of despair

The stone will someday perish
The flowers will be gone
But a photo now remains of this
Their memory lives on!

And so my friend, don't hesitate
To film the weathered stone
Those who live within your hearts
Are never truly gone.

Author:  Jan Miller - used with permission

With thanks to fellow graver Baxter Fite who first made the poem known to me, to Geraldine Humes who directed me to Jan Miller as the poem's author - and especially to Jan Miller who graciously allowed me to use her poem on my blog.

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