Pithy

CARRY ON TUESDAY

asks us to use the words

'Is That All There Is?', the title of a famous song by Peggy Lee.

PITHY

I'd love to say something pithy

When the time comes for me to die.

I'm frequently rehearsing

How  I want to say goodbye!

I've  always loved the last word

But will things get back-to-front?

Will I shuffle off this mortal coil

With nothing but a grunt?

I'd like to say something meaningful,

Preferably in rhyme,

But will I be shy and speechless

When it comes to the last time?

I want my words to be recorded

In some book of famous quotes

So I hope somebody's standing by

All ready to take notes.

I'd like my words to be funny,

But there wont be too much scope;

It must be hard to crack a joke

When one's abandoned hope!

But I don't think I could better

(How much pithier could I be?)

Than to wheeze and say 'Is That All There Is?'

Courtesey of Peggy Lee.

*

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My Mother at my Daughter's wedding.

A SPECIAL PORTRAIT

My Mother was ninety-seven and very far from strong,

But Rebecca was getting married and Mum wanted to come along.

Two nurses from the Nursing Home pushed her in a chair,

And we were so delighted to have her company there.

I bought a dress in lavender; her hair looked soft and neat,

But she couldn't see in a mirror that she looked very sweet.

Her eyes have an expression that twinkles though, by then,

She was completely blind and she would never see again.

But she looked into the camera and wished the couple well,

And though she couldn't see them no-one was able to tell.

She died only one month later, quietly, in her sleep.

And this is a portrait of her that I'm always going to keep.

Hers was a sort of courage that kept going stoically.

And I only hope that some of her has been passed down the line to me.

*