On July 28th 2012 my sister Louise lost her husband to cancer after a six months battle, then I (Nick) lost my partner only 3 days later on July 1st 2012. This past weekend we gathered as a family to remember them at my sister’s (Pauline’s) home in Lions Head, Ontario.
We are both still adjusting to our loss, but I think it is important to note that while we suffer their absence from our lives we view the aftermath of their deaths through physical realities. That is why I wrote the poem…to help me understand from their point of view…just a little bit.
Nick
In Memory Of You
Time is a strange thing
So long ago it seems
For a whole year passing,
Yet memories come in flashes
Tasting of yesterday.
I fear perhaps,
Something essential
Is slipping away.
But no
It’s my arrogance,
My selfishness
That tries to hold you here,
To want you at our gathering
In the summer of our mourning year
As if this small treasure
Could ellipse
Your magnificent destination
Amid the spangled stars
Crowding the darkening sky.
How can I claim,
It’s not fair
That you aren’t here
When you are out there
Riding sunbeams
Way out over the edge of night
Hearing your laughter echoing
Through my tears.
Nick Grimshawe
Poetry of the Heart
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