A little while ago I shared a poem written by my dear cousin when she was living in a different country from her family and was feeling very alone. Although we didn’t see each other very often as her family moved abroad (she came back to go to college which was why she felt so lonely) when we did manage to meet we always had great fun together. In between those times we wrote to each other at least once a week – I wonder what happened to those letters? They would make hilarious reading now!
We were very close, very similar in many ways, our dads were first cousins which was how we were related, and I’d known her all my life. A few years ago I received a devastating phone call from her, with news which was even more devastating for her. You can imagine what that news was – but we kept in touch, messaging when she could no longer phone, until the day I received her last message. You can imagine how I felt, I need say no more.
What I didn’t know, when she was at college on her own, she wrote a lot of poetry. Later in happy times, with her own family, she published a small collection, which I read very fondly. Her poems are serious, but I remember us together, crying with laughter at the ridiculous things we said to each other, the silly things we did together, and the absolute trust and love we had.
Dawn
Where is the red sky of London
Covered by mist and fog.
The dampness on my face
Is cold and clammy
Fear of the unknown
Who is looming
Through the changed scenery?
Quicker, faster, no-one following
Footsteps echo singly
Phantom lights shine through the haze
I hurry on, no longer frightened
Destination at last revealed
I hear her voice as I read it to myself, serious, and then a pause at the end, and that family giggle.
Lois Elsden 