So sorry we can't be with you Liz, Edward and Victoria, to give thanks for Peter on Thursday. We would like to offer you the following extract from Brian Patten's poem 'So Many Different Lengths of Time'. It has comforted us in past times. We send our love and best wishes to you all,
Mo and Dave Black, Gloucester Close.
'A man lives for as long as we carry him inside us,
for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams,
for as long as we ourselves live,
holding memories in common, a man lives.
His lover will carry his man's scent, his touch,
his children will carry the weight of his love.
One friend will carry his arguments,
another will hum his favourite tunes,
another will share his terrors.
And the days will pass with baffled faces,
then the weeks, then the months,
then there will be a day when no question is asked,
and the knots of grief will loosen in the stomach,
and the puffed faces will calm.
And on that day, he will not have ceased,
but will have ceased to be separated by death.
How long does a man live, finally?'
A man lives so many different lengths of time.
David
10th May 2015