0007 I Thought Of Her Poem by Michael Shepherd

and suddenly this morning, I thought of her;
not in the Christmas way -
thinking of you at this time,
we must meet, sometime in the New Year…

but with the sense of loss
and the sense of gratitude
so strongly present together
that there’s no point
in balancing the two; they live in
two different worlds;

remembering how I would phone you
who had time for everybody
and never looked at the clock or watch
as we talked about ourself until time itself were weary..
(then came the pointed, quiet alignment...)

knowing what a treat it was going to be
but I’d have to be on my mettle..
and when welcomed, and the tea made,

it was as if you rejoined a conversation
about things that really matter
which you and she – well, OK, she –
had been talking about,
gently, seriously, all her life; and yet as if
she had never formulated a thought about it before,
until you brought it up;

and together, you and she
would hear the sound of wisdom
as if it were newborn that day, in that tidy room.

Loss; and gratitude.
A single lady of advancing years,
serious eyes, with a sparkle waiting there,
a smile ready at the corners of her mouth
as if it waited on the prompt of love
in some high golden play.
I’m told she had more annual Valentine cards
than anyone would have known.