A Thunder Queen Poem by Margaret Alice Second

I rampage into the office, noisily greeting all while
bathing in warmth of my African colleagues, joy &
laughter destroying Western inhibitions; therefore
on receiving news of our friend's sudden demise, I
stormed in like a Thunder Queen ready to steal the
show in the family's volcano of shock and despair -

They desired to be alone and grieve in silence, yet
the house resounded to my wailing as I touched my
friend's still warm body in the house; and this quiet
Afrikaner family, of whom Lieb was the only sizzling
noisy one, was shocked by my patent disregard for
their wishes & disrespect for a bereaved, maternal

Figure who was striving for quiet tears of despair in
isolation - while I tornado'ed through their pain and
intense grief-struck focus on pain; - and when they
let me know to not return again, I reacted like a real
goddess, angry at being rejected when I just meant
well and wanted to help and it took me four days to

Calm down enough to realise that a whirlwind with
good intentions is a most undesirable event when
black despair descends on a family and they have
a right to privacy; ashamed I hung my head, what
a terrible friend - I'm the worst kind of friend there
is - projecting my feelings onto others - trying to

Force them to contend with what I want for them -
true friendship is quiet consideration for the needs
of others - dear Barbara, I confess: I'm sorry I was
so overbearing in deciding what would be good for
you, trying to take over your life, I won't do it again…