Elegy

This is the elegy I ended up writing for my poetry class. I wasn't completely happy with how it came out but I figured I would share it with you anyway. Please feel free to critique, I couldn't get the words and form to say exactly what I wanted to express.

Lost in the Gardens of Adonis 

for Debbie Clonan

Half gold, half silver circles shine- lonely

gathering dust. A gift my father gave

her: once favored but forgotten now. She

loses us- faces confused with names. Now we

just smile- suppressing sorrow, acting brave

but breaking. (Our hearts ache) If only

her life was more than pumping blood and breath.

The body struggles on while flakes of self

fall- like yellow petals of flowers, grown

in shallow earth then thrown to sea. Alone

I sit (full pews surround) remember health’s

gifts fade, leaving inevitable death.

The gift, twice given, now adorns my ears

sparking memories of her in better times:

her smile, our adventures, the smell of Home

cooked meals. She traveled in to the Unknown,

leaving us behind. I thought that sometimes

I should join her; but love lost to my fear.