Monday, January 12, 2009

Help Please

This may seem like an odd, even crass request. We recently lost a fellow gardener. She died suddenly. She had worked for two days as an active volunteer in our group last week. We have known her a little more than a year. She was cheerful and enthusiastic, and now she is gone. Nobody saw it coming. I have been asked to write something in her memory. I am not comfortable writing something original to honor her life and service. I thought a poem would be nice, but I am at a loss to find something suitable. Anyone out there on the interweb know of a poem or quote that would honor a gardener who has passed on?

6 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry Deb.

    I'll have a rootle around and see what I can come up with. Trouble is, it's quite hard to do that when you don't know the person.

    Is there a favourite poet or garden writer (either yours or hers) that you could draw on for inspiration?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Veep, that is the sad part, I know more about you than I do about this local, fellow gardener. She was new and had only attended a handful of meetings. I just assigned her a mentor. She was very nice, but we just had not known her very well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's sad and makes your job difficult.

    How about this short poem? It seemed the most appropriate I could find as it seems to link elements of gardening and nature with passing.

    What is divinity if it can come
    Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
    Shall she not find in comforts of the sun,
    In pungent fruit and bright, green wings, or else
    In any balm or beauty of the earth,
    Things to be cherished like the thought of heaven?
    Divinity must live within herself:
    Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
    Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
    Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
    Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
    All pleasures and all pains, remembering
    The bough of summer and the winter branch,
    These are the measures destined for her soul.

    Wallace Stevens, Sunday Morning, 1915

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks VP, I have forwarded the poem on to my newsletter staff. It is lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Okay, the cart before the horse here. I got to your other post before this one. So no longer in the dark. On Google Reader, the last one comes up first...
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete