GREAT KATE

Kate died peacefully in her sleep on the night of 24th February, 2012. She was 99. I have known her for 60 years, a long span of time. I was looking at a photograph of the two of us together some years ago, and these words came into my mind. They wrote themselves really.

GREAT KATE (A poem inspired by a photograph}

Every moment is a death

A death and a beginning.

Times past are gone for ever

We cannot resurrect them.

They live on only in our memories.

One moment snapped in time,

The two of us together

Laughing into the camera.

Now you are gone.

I will remember you as you were,

Vibrant and full of life,

Laughing, enjoying the good things,

Good cooking and good company.

You were kind and caring,

Always looking after others.

You were a life enhancer.

You were a bit mad sometimes,

Infuriating even,

But we always forgave you.

You wanted people to know, you said,

What it meant to be bi-polar

And the things it made you do.

We. who were your friends, forgave you

For we understood it was not the real you.

You had a heart as big as the universe

And we were all warmed by it.

Great Kate, Eia in Mousehole called you long ago.

For me you are and always will be,

GREAT KATE.

Copyright 2012 Daphne Radenhurst