I Wonder
(On writing an epitaph for a loved one)
 
In life you were all about love, which I
(damned ingrate) so often chose to neglect.
Yet with the hindsight of a lifetime my
considered view now looks on and regrets,
 
how I failed to respect the compassion
of a heart replete. Your enlightened
ways that now serve as an education,
which my reflecting spotlight has sharpened.
 
And yet, when I came to compose my thoughts
there was no single theme that was just you,
everywhere I might place your name was caught
on a hook of something he made you. Askew
 
and uncentred; a self, torn asunder.
Was that how it felt for your soul? I wonder.

Graeme Greene
 
If you have any thoughts about this poem,  Graeme Green would be pleased to hear them