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| Trudy 2008 |
Even now I
see your face
Faded blue
eyes shining with Joy
As you show
me the oriole on your feeder.
Long ago you
nurtured
-this bird
love in my heart,
--this God
love in my heart,
--this love for
all of nature.
I remember the
last time I saw you,
Shrunken and
gnome-like
With the pink,
leathery skin of old age,
Yet eyes
that still shone like a child’s.
Oh how I
loved you, and love you still.
I think of
you now like a constant thing,
Like birds,
and God’s Love.
I knew the
last time I saw you
It would be
our last good-bye,
You were 102
then—time had run out on you.
I hugged you
tight while tears
streamed
down my face in a flood.
I could tell
I was but a faded memory
In your aged
mind,
But, you
still loved me,
you still loved God,
and you
still loved the birds.
I wanted to
hold you so tight
as if my
love could keep you
from the
inevitable.
How is it
that you are gone from this life,
Yet still so
alive in my heart?
In the birds
I see everyday
—I see you,
—I see Love.
If parting
is such sweet sorrow,
Then remembering
is sweeter still,
And saying
Good-bye is but a brief moment in time.
~For Trudy Smith (read more here)
~Kathie Adams Brown (April 6, 2013)
What a lovely tribute!
ReplyDeletehooksie, thank you. It was a privilege to know her!
DeleteSuch a beautiful and heartfelt remembrance! It's so wonderful when you have someone in your life with whom to share an interest.
ReplyDeleteLolamouse, yes it is! And I like poets as well as birders!
DeleteYour sweet poem really conveys the "how" of a shared love helping a shared life to survive even the separation of death. And thank you for introducing us to Trudy!
ReplyDeletemichaelino, Thank YOU for this warm and wonderful comment!
DeleteI know your feelings and comments well having lost my dad (too soon) a number of years ago. I wrote this poem right after he died.
ReplyDeletehttp://sfrobbins.blogspot.com/2009/11/simple-good-bye.html
It is hard to understand that dying is a natural part of living as being born. The living are left to cherish memories.
Loch Rob, I know all too well that death is just part of the cycle of life. Trudy lived a long and full life and I am not sorry for her, but I still miss her. The tragedy of death is when it happens prematurely or violently. I am so sorry that you lost your dad so soon. Regardless of how he died, I know that you will always miss him, and that you will always remember him. For me, writing this poem is just my way of making sure Trudy is not forgotten and telling the whole world how thankful I am that I knew her. It is also my way of saying good-bye, since she did not have a funeral. This is my memorial to her.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathie
ReplyDeleteI first read this on Kathie's Birds and rereading it here I like it even more.
Regards
Guy
Guy, thank you. I could not get it to format correctly over there (I use Live Writer for that blog) and I wanted to have it in both places.
Delete