Just a Life

The Wordle

SUNDAY WHIRL

http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/

JUST A LIFE

She was just one of the village housewives;

I was ignorant of her life.

She was someone who just kept house,

And, of course, she had been a wife.

And then she died........no children......

Her husband , too, was dead.

As there was no family 

I was called-in instead

To tidy -up the rambling house

And empty the drawers and more,

Though I was just the neighbour

Who happened to live next-door.

She'd always been so private,

Never one for a chat;

She seemed to spurn any intimacy,

And I allowed for that.

*

I entered her house as a stranger;

I left it as something more,

For I seemed to get to know her

Once I'd entered in her front door.

There was a much-marked calender,

With dates marked with a ring.......

The year, the months, the special days,

The fall, and then the spring.

The name Ian kept recurring

On little half-written notes;

'It seems an eternity, Ian'

Was one of the many quotes.

'Buy Christmas present for Ian'

And 'Ian's coming today',

'Ian's coming with his new wife'.......

Such things she would say.

There were jottings concerning her money;

Subtracting and adding amounts;

Dried orange rind and moth balls

Mixed-in with her accounts.

Among the figures that name again;

'Ian' .....that repetition.

I opened up an envelope;

I felt I had permission.

I found it was a birthday card;

The writing made me sad.....

'To Ian, my own darling boy;

The  son I never had.'

*

I entered her house as a stranger;

I left it as a friend.

We'd lived next-door for many years

And I met her in the end.

*

------------------------------------------------------------------------

'

HELLO HAPPINESS!

Hello Happiness! And Goodbye!

Try to catch it and it will fly.

Try to pin it down and find

It has left you far behind

Fluttering above those distant trees,

Leaving memories that merely tease.

'Are you Happiness?' we say;

It hears the words and floats away.

A bird flies near and sweetly sings

Then disappears in a flash of wings.

Joy may clutch you by the heart,

But, straight away, it will depart.

Never question; never plead;

Enjoy, then smile and say 'God Speed!'

*