~
Slate wiped clean
As if she’d never been
Here today and gone tomorrow
Went home to die
Sweet goodbye
Kin arrived
To clear her flat
How ‘bout that
Truck left
Precious things
Piled up high
Teetering towards the sky
~
©DGA 31 December 2011 08:05
Never Been
Adeeyoyo's Blog 
31/12/2011 at 8:20 am
But she will live on in her kin’s memories…I hope!
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31/12/2011 at 8:24 am
I hope so too, Gran. Sweet, sweet lady!
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31/12/2011 at 8:46 am
Sadness sits in the heart, for a reason… Self-reflection..
I am so sorry for the hurt that is borne by those close to her.. I offer my condolences.
Jake.
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31/12/2011 at 9:11 am
I believe she was very hands-on with the laying out of the flower beds at one time and when I first met her she was well into her 90’s and still up to her elbows in planting slips, taking cuttings, etc.
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31/12/2011 at 6:15 pm
We all send out ripples . . . sounds like she’ll live on in the beauty she planted for others to enjoy.
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31/12/2011 at 6:23 pm
I am sure she will, Nancy. When I look at the garden (now in full bloom) I see her walking across the grass…
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31/12/2011 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for this sharing, Denise.
They don’t see
as she dies
whom she meets
when she closes her eyes
and what her joys
as her spirit flies
John
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31/12/2011 at 12:36 pm
That is very beautiful, John. Lovely vision.
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31/12/2011 at 6:16 pm
That’s gorgeous too, John.
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31/12/2011 at 1:05 pm
I enjoy the irony of the precious things teetering towards the sky. That part can be taken at several different levels.from straightforward ‘can’t take it with you’ to the fancy that some part of the preciousness tends to follow, and stretched even further to memories of memories …
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31/12/2011 at 1:26 pm
I was torn between ‘teetering’ and ‘reaching’, but I liked the uncertainty of the former as if it was saying, “Hey, you left me behind…” and was trying to tell her she’d forgotten it…
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31/12/2011 at 4:58 pm
The slate is NEVER wiped clean; our lives touch each other in unseen, innumerable ways. You’re a better person for having been loved by all those around you and vice versa. Have a happy new year, my new friend.
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31/12/2011 at 5:33 pm
That is so very true. We all leave ripples behind, some bigger than others. I was getting at the fact that her flat was emptied, cleaned and repainted ready for the next occupant so very quickly. Thanks for the good wishes and I wish you and yours all the very best of health and happiness for 2012.
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01/01/2012 at 5:36 am
may her memory live on in their hearts….i hope never to be forgot completely…happy new year adee!
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01/01/2012 at 5:57 am
I am sure it will, Brian. She was such a lovely spiritual person. And you won’t be easily forgotten either, my friend! You will leave such a legacy of love behind. Thanks so much for the wishes, and I wish you the same. May the new year bring only good.
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01/01/2012 at 9:19 pm
i will take that…smiles….
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01/01/2012 at 11:16 am
I love this poem, Adee – it is sad but the line “went home to die” is also quite comforting in a way – and the last three lines are quite delightful if taken as a metaphor for release from life
You will obviously miss her
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01/01/2012 at 11:38 am
Thanks, Bb! I will miss her although I didn’t know her for very long.
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01/01/2012 at 5:25 pm
It’s the here today, gone tomorrow thing I find unsettling: the world closes around the space someone was. I love Nancy’s take on it: that what she sowed brought pleasure to others.
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01/01/2012 at 5:34 pm
I also found it sad that her room was emptied and cleaned and painted in quite a rush. She had been ill but was over it, but very weak, and told us all she was going home to Durban to die. It must have been a premonition because she flew down and was there only a few days when we heard that she had passed away. The gardens here are very beautiful at the moment and I am sure she knows that we think of her when we admire them.
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02/01/2012 at 1:23 am
Sometimes it doesn’t take long to get to really know someone.
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02/01/2012 at 6:00 am
You’re right, Otin! And sometimes you can have an acquaintance for years and never really know him/her.
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02/01/2012 at 5:01 am
Lovely, and sad. Made me think of my friend’s mom who is in a nursing home. She’s quite frail, and probably doesn’t have much time left. However, she will be missed and her family will struggle terribly with cleaning out her room.
Happy New Year!
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02/01/2012 at 6:16 am
It is sad, Kathy, and the packing up of one’s room could really be upsetting I think. However, at the same time it is a symbolic release for those left behind and should be viewed as an act of love…
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02/01/2012 at 6:23 am
she can do no more, yet her impact will remain.
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02/01/2012 at 6:38 am
Yes, it will, Sidey. She will be missed by all who knew her.
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02/01/2012 at 10:17 pm
The starkness in these lines is brilliant. It emotes the kind of emptiness but necessity that is always felt when we grieve. How wonderful that you could find the words as a testament to her.
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03/01/2012 at 4:23 am
Thank you, Kiersty. Actually I think the words found me!
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03/01/2012 at 10:07 pm
Encapsulated, an archetypal scene and the emotions that accompany it. skillfully done.
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04/01/2012 at 5:57 am
Thank you, Ben. 🙂
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