SpokenVerse | "If Tomorrow Starts Without Me" attributed to David Romano (read by Tom O'Bedlam) @SpokenVerse | Uploaded February 2012 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
This reading was requested. It is a simple poem in basic English, expressing sentiments that many people find comforting in bereavement.
Some poems are only accessible to the intelligentsia and some reach a larger audience. I have no doubt that this poem won't appeal to literary snobs. But many more people are affected by a poem such as this one. It has similar appeal to "Do not stand at my grave and weep".
Aldous Huxley said something to the effect that when we are in the grip of the most intense passion, then what we feel has been best expressed in the words of popular songs.
Thomas Gray, who wrote an elegy in a country churchyard, talked about memorials that "with uncouth rhyme and shapeless sculpture decked, implore the passing tribute of a sigh."
Simple and sincere everyday language can be more evocative than the sometimes tortured introspective outpourings of intellectuals wrestling with their grief. The feelings are just as valid: grief is simple and common to us all.
Morning paintings from Fine Art America:
fineartamerica.com/featured/sunrise-victoria-lamp.html
When tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
all filled with tears for me,
I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.
I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
and each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too.
But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,
and said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.
But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.
I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.
I thought of all the yesterdays
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
and all the fun we had
If I could re-live yesterday
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.
But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
would take the place of me.
And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.
But when I walked through heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne.
He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you."
Today your life on earth is past,
But here life starts anew
I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day's the same
There's no longing for the past.
You have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true.
Though there were times you did some things
You knew you shouldn't do.
But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand
And share my life with me?
So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.
This reading was requested. It is a simple poem in basic English, expressing sentiments that many people find comforting in bereavement.
Some poems are only accessible to the intelligentsia and some reach a larger audience. I have no doubt that this poem won't appeal to literary snobs. But many more people are affected by a poem such as this one. It has similar appeal to "Do not stand at my grave and weep".
Aldous Huxley said something to the effect that when we are in the grip of the most intense passion, then what we feel has been best expressed in the words of popular songs.
Thomas Gray, who wrote an elegy in a country churchyard, talked about memorials that "with uncouth rhyme and shapeless sculpture decked, implore the passing tribute of a sigh."
Simple and sincere everyday language can be more evocative than the sometimes tortured introspective outpourings of intellectuals wrestling with their grief. The feelings are just as valid: grief is simple and common to us all.
Morning paintings from Fine Art America:
fineartamerica.com/featured/sunrise-victoria-lamp.html
When tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
all filled with tears for me,
I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.
I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
and each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too.
But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,
and said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.
But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.
I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.
I thought of all the yesterdays
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
and all the fun we had
If I could re-live yesterday
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.
But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
would take the place of me.
And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.
But when I walked through heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne.
He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you."
Today your life on earth is past,
But here life starts anew
I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day's the same
There's no longing for the past.
You have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true.
Though there were times you did some things
You knew you shouldn't do.
But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand
And share my life with me?
So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.
