Fortitudo mea est amor a matre mihi datus,

 

Coming downstairs slow and steady

Crinkled and wrinked with ruffled hair

I hold her dreams close to me -

Pausing at the turning of eternity -

Until I have drunk two strong coffees,

Smoked an imaginary cigarette,

Said good morning to those I love,

Who are now amongst the dead;

Recite a quiet antiphon in my muddled head.

Look out of the French windows

Into the garden she has spent a lifetime moulding into scattered beauty,

Hobble to the back door. 

Look at the greens and blues and yellows and pinks

Like a sprinking of a symphony, creation  remains unchallenged, undefeated

Through all the births, marriages and deaths,

And the little that is left,

She taught me tears are the price of smiles,

And her smile will endure with me,

Laughingly, all through eternity.