LAST POST

“Forgive me for needing you to be strong forever.
 Forgive me for fearing your unhappiness.
 As you suffer[ed], so  I suffer.
 As you endur[ed], so I endure.
 Hold my hand and walk the old walk one last time,
then let me go.”
 
Untitled poem, as spoken in the film, Hope Gap,
written and directed by William Nicholson (2020).

I now allow the comfort provided by what my friend, J, said, on Myra's death:
"A mother’s love lasts long after the final hug." 

And finally, a famous poem by Rabindranath Tagore that resonates for me more than ever, almost two years after my mother’s death.

Say not in grief that she is no more 
but say in thankfulness that she was. 
A death is not the extinguishing of a light, 
but the putting out of the lamp 
because the dawn has come. 

I began by thinking I could save you, but in the end,
all I can do is honour you.