Stooping, her small fingers
pluck delicate yellow white flower
from roadside verge;
cradling it in her tiny hand
taking it home; mother says
“put it in a water jar,
make it bloom.” It stays
drooping after a few days.
Daisy moment, brief life
called into another’s world
giving sunlit beauty in a
cluttered space, standing in
jamjar from where morning
light made petals glow.
She blazed without diminished light
serving purpose, beauty’s cause
living without channeled suppression
being herself in this conforming world
going before tyrannous expectations
were yokes laid across her back.
Already making history
before illness struck her down;
a light switched off too soon
laughter filling a room;
loving life ardently,
awaking inherent beauty
in a shunned schoolboy.
She, sea pounding high walls
buzzard gliding above moorland
rising like spate-filled river
waterfalling possibilities
giving new hope to those
societal demands trapped;
promising creative freedom,
raven calling on threshold
summoning feline birth.
Form gone, presence lingering;
ghost at shoulder remembering;
carrying on and reaping
every season the vintage
presenting rich earthy
dark loamy vitality;
tasting of eternity.
© Phil Kemp 2024