"The Dead" by Billy Collins, contributed by Jack Burton (2025)
My paternal grandparents, and all of my great-grandparents, passed before I reached the age of four, leaving me with very few personal memories. I loved hearing stories about these relatives from my parents: my siblings and I would beg for little narratives about them every night before we went to sleep. At the end of these stories, my mother would always describe Heaven as a place where these people, and generations of our relatives, would always be able to look down at us and offer love and reassurance in times of need. My siblings and I take solace in knowing that our grandparents can see us going about our everyday lives--making a sandwich or putting on shoes. Billy Collins, a family favorite poet, captures this beautiful image of the dead in this peaceful poem. With the metaphor of parents waiting for their children to close their eyes, Collins describes a deep familial care between the dead and living. I am reassured by the idea that we never truly lose the people that matter most and hope this poem can offer future readers similar solace as well.