In Loving Memory of my Sister, Lucy

This is the bitter-sweetest poem I have ever written... Dear Lucy, Your garden shoes at the back doorYour jacket on the hookYour beautiful flowers galoreYour latest favourite bookYour mementos of such and suchYou thoughtfully arrangedAll leave behind your tender touchDeath suddenly estranged The datebook you kept in your mindHow we would marvel, dearAt the methods you used to findThe day, the month, the yearWith ‘I remember this becauseWe picked the pears before…We went to…(then) how the weather wasAnd what outfit you wore’ While we would laugh and marvel atYour sentimental troveYou turned to gifts of this and thatTo touch someone with loveAnd shape part of the thing that DeathBoth takes and leaves, in syncThe life we lived; as gifted breathSpills in permanent ink Dear Lucy, daughter, sister, wifeMother, grandmother, friendYour legacy of love in lifeWas faithful to the endWhere part of you is silenced nowYet much of you lives onLove never fails, no matter howWe wish you were not gone Our God who ordained all your daysBefore one came to beThough we cannot fathom His waysWill help love (us) faithfullyTo bear all things, believe all thingsTo hope all things, endureHis pardon that salvation bringsHolds living hope secure Thus, we have no cause to rebelAgainst His perfect planBut rather, to live each day wellAnd love while we still canDear all of us who yet remainWho only see in partGod never fails; He knows our painHe heals the broken heart Yes. I know we will dearly missDear Lucy’s smiling faceHer cards and notes, signed, love, your sisHer words of cheer and graceHer questions, oh, her questions, andHer quirky observanceHer always ready helping handHer lovely compliments But, as we contemplate our storeOf precious memoriesWe cannot help but thank God forLove’s favours, such as theseFarewell for now, dear sister-friendAlthough our teardrops flowWe know that this is not the endBut just farewell, for now In loving memory of my sweet sister, Lucy Janet Martin Lucy took a kind and generous interest in my writing and poetry blog,often checking in to see if everything is okayif for some reason a few days passed without a poem!I will really, really miss writing, in part, for her! Love… bears all things,believes all things,hopes all things,endures all things.Love never fails. 1 Cor.13:7-8