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The poems

Made by Teresa Marrin
© 2010-2012

Michael

Gaudeamus igitur
Therefore let us rejoice
You beam out at us from the photo
Arms flung wide
The setting Naples sun behind you
Captured forever in sand and sea
Your death a brutal lesson
In the terrible impermanence of life

What possible lesson
Can we learn from losing you
In the peak of the joy that was your life?
The collage of photos
So many friends – so much laughter
So many sunsets
Your days did not simply pass you by
You ran out and scooped them up
Like shells from the seashore
And carried them off to celebrate

When we can’t find you
We turn back to the photo
It makes us wonder
What death really is
When you can radiate from that picture
As if you had never gone
Beyond the days of grieving
You remain, untouched
Smiling out at us, daring us
To find our own sunset

One thing seems sure
You left without regret
Because you lived without regret
It is a lesson to those of us
Who have no photos of our own
Arms outstretched, rejoicing in the sunset
Time for us, then, to get one
To put up next to yours
And celebrate
Maybe then
We will not be afraid