Photographed taken from Island of Montserrat
Your grey rock stone body awash with
Wild berries, purple, blue flowers, shrubs
Defy mother nature
Cemented in the dirt yard
Unmoved, over a rock ledge
As the goats tether
-
From a crack through the window
Paved that hard finality
Behold the village that raised you
Held in the crevices of the valley
Yet a glimpse of the mountain you see
-
Now I remember my teenage years
Filled with bible verses you fed me
As you felt for the hallowed pages
Your chanted incantations
Echoed in every room
That old wooden house
The wrap-around porch
-
Tears stung as it did that day
Proud to have known you
We knew nothing of how we would say adieu
They read your last will and testament
Before they left you that day
In the graveyard so all can hear
I was too young to understand
The earth must have shaken
The dust filled their eyes
-
Today I wore you like vermilion
I sit and recall the meaning of that day
I mourn, my throat tightens
My ear rings
Listen,
The birds fly freely as they sing
Your love mirrors my very essence.
-
Poem written by Brenda L. McCartney
