 |
| 1927-2002 |
How terribly strange to be orphaned.
Too young a word for someone my age.
Sudden yet hardly unforeseen
in the gym Wednesday, gone by Friday.
The body you'd had all those long years
empty and cold.
Not you
still precious
somewhere to hang our farewells and weep our hot tears.
Bereft but not lost
mourning but thankful
Ninety four years of you, living to the full
squeezing out life
savouring with relish,
your thanks for every day.
Cheerful at the last
grateful for easy death and all that came before
Ready for whatever follows.
My life is colder for a while
Dimmer and muted for the now.
Washed through by absence
gently engulfed
tender not raw
And then suddenly gulping the loss
Something huge in my throat, my heart.
Something has gone now
some reassuring structure and awareness
some grounding presence some steadying hand
some something
from my first steps to your last
my first breath till your final
is gone.
© Sally Alsford 2022
No comments:
Post a Comment