Gabriella

 

And even when she wasn’t there

as the life and soul who everyone loved,

She was, magpie-like

Always looking down on us

 

Gabriella, ‘strength’ in Hebrew

An Italian with broken English

And a broken sense of direction

She was, not pigeon-like, no formel

But she was as loyal as any she-wolf

Always looking out for us

 

I met her in Hackney, late Nineties

Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the London art scene

Was threadneedle for me

Part of its social fabric

She was, social butterfly-like

whose wings sprinkled joy and hope

on everyone they flew over

Always looking after us

 

She danced, she drunk, and still,

She remembered the names of all she met

And even when her sight in her final years

became frail

She was tigress-like

Never selfish, always in awe

Always looking up to us

 

And now she will never be there again

But will be the life and soul who everyone misses

She is, her namesake, angel-like,

Always looking down us.