A La Mode
Laura, dear sister, you died as a child,
Three months of living with countenance mild;
Life was so simple for your living days –
Eating and sleeping, with small finger-plays.Annie, dear Annie, convulsions your lot,
Wring from your body what strength that you've got;
I do not envy the road you are on,
Lasting perhaps seasons after I'm gone.Then there is me, with two scoops of ice cream,
Off to a Homestead where we've never been;
I cannot fathom the road up ahead,
Leprosy takes you – no hope – soon you're dead.Georgie, dear Georgie, like pudding and pie,
Left eastern girls who now sit there and cry;
Never mind, Georgie, it won't be long, bro –
Two scoops of you is the God that I know.Evelyn, dearest, your kind gift of cash,
Taken, I know, from your private wee stash,
Speaks to my heart, helps me feel you are near,
Close to my being – your laugh quenches fear.John, you are older with much daring-do,
Leaping from mountain to mountain – that's you;
Someday I hope we will meet up again,
I hardly knew you – no less is my pain.Stanley, so playful, and risking so much,
Slipped from your teaching, church choirs, and such;
Came here to give us this first starting push –
God's little liar – we're out of the lurch.Father, O father – we share this disease –
You on the East Coast, do write to me please;
I have such questions, hope you'll understand,
I've now come west, taken plough in my hand.Mother, dear mother, a year in your grave,
Thanks for the spirit of life which you gave,
Not just to me, sitting here on this pew,
But to our family – it's spring ’cause of you.navigation