Wednesday, 21 March 2012

Elegy for Pete

I wrote this poem in memory of our friend Dr Ian "Pete" Griffith who died in December 2011, just before his 70th birthday. Laurie MacDonald read it at his memorial service in January.


Death is like a stone
thrown in a pond

bringing a ring of ripples
and a few fond

memories then it all
fades away

as the stone embeds itself
in sand and clay

leaving the stillness - so
it was your turn

to listen to the final sweet
nocturne

you were a skeptic but
I like to think

that those left stay connected
through the links

that forge relationships
and destinies

to live on in our veins
and arteries

it's just a little sojourn
here on earth

each of us struggles - but
each struggle's worth

the effort - though you
never did believe

in after-worlds - in this life
you achieved

enough to stir the urge
to carry on

our word-journeys - as if you hadn't gone

we won't forget - each Christmas
we will meet

to drink to your uniqueness -
farewell Pete


© Hazel S S Hall
12 December 2011

No comments:

Post a Comment