and suddenly this morning, I thought of her; <br />not in the Christmas way - <br />thinking of you at this time, <br />we must meet, sometime in the New Year… <br /> <br />but with the sense of loss <br />and the sense of gratitude <br />so strongly present together <br />that there’s no point <br />in balancing the two; they live in <br />two different worlds; <br /> <br />remembering how I would phone you <br />who had time for everybody <br />and never looked at the clock or watch <br />as we talked about ourself until time itself were weary.. <br />(then came the pointed, quiet alignment...) <br /> <br />knowing what a treat it was going to be <br />but I’d have to be on my mettle.. <br />and when welcomed, and the tea made, <br /> <br />it was as if you rejoined a conversation <br />about things that really matter <br />which you and she – well, OK, she – <br />had been talking about, <br />gently, seriously, all her life; and yet as if <br />she had never formulated a thought about it before, <br />until you brought it up; <br /> <br />and together, you and she <br />would hear the sound of wisdom <br />as if it were newborn that day, in that tidy room. <br /> <br />Loss; and gratitude. <br />A single lady of advancing years, <br />serious eyes, with a sparkle waiting there, <br />a smile ready at the corners of her mouth <br />as if it waited on the prompt of love <br />in some high golden play. <br />I’m told she had more annual Valentine cards <br />than anyone would have known.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/0007-i-thought-of-her/
