Thursday, October 29, 2020

At her Dying

 

In memory of my mother



What to say, what words to pick;

words so freely scattered, now

that she was breathing fitfully, within

minutes of leaving her life,

leaving those she loved for the love

she had prayed all her days,

and these words, if she could hear,

the last words she would ever hear.


How we struggled to find a way of saying

we love you, be happy to be journeying,

approaching the God of her life-long devotion.

How to put love, comfort, encouragement

into uncertain, dismayed voices;

to put words that were special from us to her.

Her breathing weaker now, and our voices

hopefully reaching through the fog in her head;

our voices the last sounds before her space-travel.


What words to send with her, if they could be heard;

our company to the threshold, and beyond;

warmth to carry into the unknown.

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