'Standing above the coffin in which Dick's body lay in his Sunday clothes in its stillness and Aunt Sarah Jane who sat in the black dress of her sorrow nearby, the preacher gestured broadly with his opened hands, all the while looking at the people, as if to see if they knew already what he was going to say. He said:
This ain't him.
He ain't here.
This ain't no more our brother,
our beloved. For he
ain't here. Where he is
all is well.
All is well with Dick Watson.
All is well.
He has come to a door
to a mansion
didn't have to knock
to get in. He had heard
that voice.
He has heard, O Lord,
thy voice.
"Brother Watson, come in.
Well done
Well done, thou good
and faithful servant.
Well done. Enter
into the joy of thy Lord."
...
Blessed!
Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed!
Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Children,
don't cry no more.
Sister Sarah Jane,
don't cry no more.
Our brother,
where he is,
he don't hear no crying.
For his burden is lifted.
For freedom
has come to him
and rest.
For where he is
ain't no crying there.
Not a sigh.
Not a tear.'
Wendell Berry, 'Not a Tear' in A Place in Time: Twenty Stories of the Port William Membership, p.114.
