Category: Poetry

Constant, as true a friend,
Always faithful and sincere,
Reliable, most trustworthy.
Leaping, stalwart, to defend.

Aware that love could mend,
Granted smiling & with cheer
Open-hearted felicity:
Lifting troubles to no end.

Delight for life to lend
Inspiration through the year
Zested with magnanimity:
Enthusiasm un-end—

Never forgotten.

Note about the format: I separated the poem’s lines into stanzas because my friend was present in people’s lives in different ways. She also did not talk vaingloriously about what she did to support the community she loved — but anyone who knew where to look could always find her: a pillar of loving strength for so many of us.

I stand at the edge
Of a drop of salty liquid:
At the verge of drowning.

Heart pained, mind numb
— Shock: although expected,
Left with an empty hole. 

A drop of salty liquid,
Just one,
Begins the deluge.

Dripping, raining, 
The torrent sweeps all away:
A black whirlpool of sorrow.

Lachrymal woe washes the darkness. 
My dolor slowly abates:
Not diminished, but fragile.

A drop of salty liquid
Can refresh the swell,
So breathe deeply, slowly…

Until…

Delicate composure,
Barely a gossamer barrier
Against the gloomy rolling waves.

Yet,
Gently, cautiously,
Light passes through:

The light of memory,
The smiles, the laughter.
Confidences sincerely shared.

A caring heart, with sparkling air,
Open arms ever embracing kindly, 
Welcoming friends, of all sorts.

Each memory twinkles in the dark,
And light dances atop the daunting waves
As drops of salty liquid swirl.

Grief and joyful friendship
Spun together:
An eddy of light and dark

Powerful enough to drag under
Or propel brightly atop the surge, upwards:
Which would she have chosen?

A simple drop of salty liquid,
A maelstrom of emotion —
Tears swirling into the stars.