Bernadette

on occasion of her 80^th birthday

Sometimes a poem doesn't come,

words curl up into the air out of reach,

letters disintegrate before fully formed,

the muse, alas, all too soon disappeared.

But sometimes you are the poem,

being the person you are is enough

to start a drizzle of thoughts drift down,

your unique voice sticking them together.

I will try to reconnect with the sky;

for you, through sheer force of my love,

these inadequate lines will be written

and reach you over Atlantic waves.

You have always been young to me,

and are so now, with your quick intelligence,

elegant style, your strength and generosity

in always providing good company.

You chose the handsome storyteller

and had five of the finest pearls,

the most lustrous given, for a time, to me;

a treasure, now with pain, I still hold in my heart.

I value you. Value you as close family

and a friend. And although far away in blowing snow,

my little pixes and I raise a glass to you

and your extraordinary family Enjoy the day.

Wshing I was there,

Sandra