See me Dead by Shaun Tenzenmen

Today's feature showcases a poem inspired by the idea of wanting to know how others will feel once you've gone. (CW// Loss, Death, Brief mention of Suicide).

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

Hello and welcome to our first Friday Weekly Feature. If you’re unfamiliar with this, we added a new day to our posting schedule. Every Friday we’ll alternate between posting a poem or a short story.

To kick off this schedule change, we’re featuring a piece from

shaun tenzenmen

. You can see a little bit about Shaun below:

“I'm more a lyricist than a poet. I don't necessarily jive with the show-don't-tell philosophy of poetry but rather tell-and-tell-well instead. I've been writing since high school in the 80s so I should be getting good at this soon.”

Shaun’s poem See me Dead was written back in August of 2024, and was initially posted over on 1994Ever. And you can also find Shaun over on Instagram.

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See Me Dead – 3rd August 2024

I want to see the grief expressed
Hear the kind words manifest
Let me celebrate the life I led
To become immortal now I’m dead

You don’t need to shed those tears
I got to enjoy so many years
But being gone is a long, long time
Don’t forget me and what was mine

What wishes made, to have been said
Or ones wished retracted instead
Look on my legacy for what it’s worth
You’ll too join me soon, returned to earth

You and me, will all be forgot
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s your lot!

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Below we asked Shaun to share some thoughts on See Me Dead.

What were some of your inspirations when writing this piece?

“Inspired by the idea of wanting to know how others feel about you once you are gone, much like my teenage student who after attempting suicide said that she wanted to see her mother's reaction once she was gone!”

Notably, Shaun’s answers to our other questions was simply this:

“I try to let my words speak for themselves. Take what you want from them.”

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Something that speaks out to me about this piece is: I too have pondered and wondered what other’s will say or feel if I passed away. In fact, I’ve tossed and turned on the idea too many times to count.

In this piece, Shaun takes pen-to-paper to make a more hopeful and happier feeling on the idea of one’s passing. It is a wish to celebrate the life one has led, rather than to let the grief consume you.

I think in that sense, it’s a beautifully written poem. And in Shaun’s mention that we’ll all return to Earth soon, gives a “grounding” to our sense of reality and perception when loss occurs.

We all come from the Earth, and back into it we’ll eventually go— with somewhere in it a chance to be once more reconnected with each other.

Thank you Shaun for sharing and giving us the opportunity to feature your work here on the Collective.

But dear readers, what are your thoughts on this piece? Do you too think about how others will react once you’ve passed? Share in the comments below

Interested in submitting a poem or short story?