26/11/2019
This is the poem read at Teifion Rees’ funeral, chosen by his daughter:
Instructions
Rev. Arnold Crompton: 1914 – 1998
When I have moved beyond you in the adventure of life, gather in some pleasant place and there remember me with spoken words, old and new.
Let a tear fall if you will, but let a smile come quickly for I have loved the laughter of life.
Do not linger too long with your solemnities. Go eat, and drink and talk, and when you can:
Follow a woodland trail, climb a high mountain, walk along the wild seashore, chew the thoughts of some book that challenges your soul.
Use your hands some bright day to make a thing of beauty, or to lift someone’s heavy load.
Though you mention not my name, though no thought of me crosses your mind, I shall be with you for these have been the realities of life for me.
And when you face some crisis with anguish, when you walk alone with courage, when you choose your path of right, I shall be very close to you.
I have followed the valleys, I have climbed the heights of life.
