Sunday 10 January 2016

Bearing witness





I’m not at that bedside when life ebbs from it,
I’m not at the riverbank when the pyre’s lit.
But I’m lessened all the same wherever I am,
and I bear witness in the way my life permits.


And I bear witness to each of those lonely trips,
to the vast, unending silence of silent lips.
I hold it cradled within the heart of my life
through every throb of happiness and all hardships.



A close and a favourite relative has passed away back home and I do not have the heart today to craft and polish fancy metaphors.  Writing it as it comes, the good (and there was much good, he was such a lively and fun person that just hearing his voice was a mood-lift! Really, he could give the term joie-de-vivre an inferiority complex!), the bad, and the ugly.  His daughter is making a lonely trip today, the loneliest possible, starting out from USA to India, the longest and the most terrible of journeys for anybody, and although I can't be with her as I want to be, I am there in spirit. Remembering, honouring, celebrating and mourning him every step of the way.



9 comments:

  1. I am so very sorry.
    It sounds as if his loss has diminished the world for everyone who knew him.

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  2. I'm sorry for the lost of someone close and who brought much joy. Prayers for your family and may his daughter have a safe journey.

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  3. Hi Nila - what a lovely thoughtful post to your relative ... losing someone who can lift us up - is not easy, especially if we are distant. My thoughts ... but his daughter does have a very sad journey to make ... all the best for the family - Hilary

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  4. So very sorry for your loss. Words that flow at such an emotional time are closest to heart, raw and real.

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  5. I'm very sorry for your loss of a special person in your life, Nila.

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  6. Thank you all for your kind words and prayers.

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  7. Heartfelt condolences on the loss.

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  8. Through your very natural and moving words Nila, you have indeed remembered, honoured, celebrated and mourned this lovely man. He must have been really someone! I feel for his daughter. That is a long journey to take in sadness, alone.

    Prayers for you at this time, dearest friend. :-)

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