In Memoriam: David Rowlands
I have it in my mind
that all is left of you
the joint of steel
that helped you rise
and run again
Removed before cremation
or recovered from
your ashen bone
recycled as of further
use to what
and where we are
ground fine as memory
your name survives
your word of choice
our Dave It lives for days
Soon I’m in the Lakes,
your Lakes I feel you
pass me as I struggle
up each hill At every
halt you stand, hands
on each hip, sweat
shining on your face
a challenge in your grin
Your day of days
brings all our lives
together in your end
We pack the crem
Spill out of doors
into the sun
All that survives of you
is here Your boys,
your pals, and Lesley
playing you, performing
well your final script
So Anglo-Welsh and
full of grit, until
the end when as
herself she gives
permission for
your death to break
upon her
and us all
Your boys survive
Two fragments of yourself
and Jean, so different
and so evidently you
Pride fills our eyes
as secretly I guess
it filled your heart
at knowing who
they were, and where
We all must hold
a life as best we can
as best we can our own
And as we’ll never meet
again, together
in your name, pursue
our lives alone
And time will
not alone be kind,
and more and more
will go, as we together
in our turn Whatever’s
sweet, or sad
will turn to nothing
in the end
And then only
implants, removed
before disposal
of remains
J.A.Huddart 