Eloquence
Margaret was her given name,
friends and family called her Marla:
some character in Flash Gordon
she was said to have taken after.
I remember the Order of Service
misspelled her name as Mahla.
I remember the weight of the coffin
and her poorly written poem.
But most I remember Greta
who had greyed since I last saw her
and hugged me so tight on arrival,
who courtesy of a cerebral stroke
had lost the power of speaking.
The service was punctuated
by her terrible moaning and wailing,
her “unghs” and “aarghs” and “aiees” expressed
what I felt with more eloquence
than mere words ever could.
David RL Moore
Thu 19th Jun 2025 13:18
Hi Ray,
I think sometimes the agony of loss is best expressed unvolantarily in an agonised almost animalistic bark/howl.
This piece presents the reality of how we express grief in differing ways, some in solemnity and some in an outpouring of uncontained emotions.
It has always been of interest to me how different cultures publicly manifest loss, what is culturally expected and acceptable and what is not. Do these differing displays reflect our attitude's to the living and life itself in some way? well, it's a question if nothing else.
Thanks Ray,
David