In memoriam - one year on

Six years ago
Only three brief evenings
I was always early
as you gently chided me

I came in from the
sunsplashed March evenings
the sun soon dipping
towards the western horizon

We chatted away
as you faded into darkness
only that one lamp lit
just for me

You reached out to me
and touched me gently
not physically
but spiritually

I knew your pain
what could have been
those years before
a promise left unfulfilled

The beach and the machair
were your release and your relief
you touched the rocks and stones
to touch mother earth

Dancing the empty roads
the endless machairs
singing the curving strands
of Uibhist bho Thuath

I could not leave you
that final night
the wrench was
almost physicaly painful

I'll never forget
that serene wistful smile
greeting me
at your little house's door

Or that final good-bye
a month later
in the House of Music
I could not let go

I did let go
and we each went our way
I'm glad you were happy
before you left this life

I know little Torran
is happy in her new forever home
still waiting
for you to come to collect her

You were taken back
to where you last lived
You were taken back
to where you first lived

But all who remember you
All who met you and loved you
Carry you with us forever
so you are not really gone