Friend
You are gone too soon
From this earthly place

Gone too soon
And so quickly
That I wasn’t able to say
'Goodbye'
I didn’t even say
‘Thank you’
And I am so sorry for that

Friend,
I feel that your energy
Is still surrounding me
And that you are watching
What is happening in this world
Observing what we will do next

And I know
That I must act wisely and truthfully
If I am to honour you
And all the things
That you stood for

Friend
You didn’t want to talk about your illness
You preferred to work and work
Right until the end
Giving all that you could
To those who depended on you

And now your departure
Has shaken us all
Left us shocked and stunned
Barely able to understand
Anything at all

Friend
Your life was as beautiful
And strong
As a diamond
Your commitment to building community
Unshakeable

Friend
You will be missed
By so many people

Perhaps you didn’t realise
What you meant to them all

Perhaps you did

Maybe you knew
That your time
Was drawing near
And you needed to be
Near your birthplace
Far away from this place
Surrounded by your children
And your parents

And we
Will gather together
When you are laid to rest
To mourn
The passing
Of an honest
True
Friend

You and me
Upon the sea
Are floating
On the breeze

Tripping
Slipping
Skipping
Flipping

To a beat
That’s deep
Neat
And Sweet

We move
With the groove
And the rhythm
Of the flow

We click
Are slick
Fit
And quick

I'm stuck
Here
With
Myself

And no matter
How hard
I try
To escape

I will
Still
Be
With
Myself
When
I return
To my senses

What
Did I expect
To Find
In
Such
A place?

What
Strange monsters
Have
I been
Running
From?

Were they
Even
Real?

This
Protracted
Solitude
Leaves me
No choice
But to experience
My life
Just as it is

And
Yes
There
Are questions

And
No
I
Don't
Have
Answers

So,
I'm stuck
Here
With
Myself

And
No matter
What comes
To Pass

I will
Remain
Stuck
Here
With
Myself
Forever

For
This
I imagine
Is
The eternity
Of my life

Eternally
Individual
Eternally
Me

So

If
I can
Make peace
With myself

Then
Maybe
Everything
Will be
Ok

And
The journey
Of my life
Will feel
Beautiful

And
That
I suppose
Is
How
It should be

And
So
Now
Is
The time
To make
Peace

A family of three magpies
Is building a home
At the end
Of my garden

They chat
Clacking and clicking
Keeping an eye on me

Way above
Swifts swoop and dive
Playing in the gentle evening warmth

Whilst down below
Bees drink the last drops of the day
Sweet nectar from peach coloured roses

The daisies heads have turned west
While an ocean of pregnant clouds
March silently eastwards

Winged six-legged creatures
Creep and crawl
Making pilgrimages across leaves
To take them, who knows where

Spiders webs are spun
And their engineers sit in a trance
Waiting for the end of the world

And the great, ancient trees
Sigh at all of it
Happy, as am I
To be surrounded
By the wonder of living things

Dear reader
Did you know
That you may well have saved me?

These written words
Come from deep inside of me
They are my effort, my attempts
To pin the pages of my life
To something or somewhere
That will outlast my time here

You see I am given to thinking
That unless I find some meaning
In each and every diurnal course
And record my daily memories
In my own personal way
I may as well
Just float away on the breeze
And let the balmy days roll into each other
Blurring into a cloud
Of missed opportunities

This poem
Should you ever come to read it
Tells you all you need to know
About my work

It reveals nothing but
My personal struggle
With my very immortality
It shows my clumsy attempts
To grasp this very moment
And imprint it
On something
‘Real’

And should your eye
Ever pass over these lines
In some distant future
Then maybe you will know
What I am feeling right now

And if you know that feeling
Maybe you will have felt it too
And together
We may have somehow found meaning
In our very existence
Creating
A connection
That bridges
The space and time
Between us

Dear reader
I may be long gone by the time you read this
But your attention
Has kept a small part of me
Alive

Why is it
That every time we meet
The emotional furnaces of the past
Bubble up and blast?

Ocean swimming
To refresh the body
And the soul

Watch the golden sunlight
Dance
On the rippling waves

Let the cold saltwater
Cleanse your skin
And re-invigorate you

Allow the swell and sway
Of the tides
Lift you up and lay you down