GRIEF Poem: The Visitor, by Toni De Luca

‘Twas the day that the Sparrowhawk wur tae come tae stay,
And Storm Kathleen wis oan her way.

As the preparations fur Bella’s chicken pie wur aboot tae begin,
The hot wild wind moved in,
Sending everyone in this wee east coast toon intae a flap,
Whipping up waves and rocking boats in the harbour,
Stirring up all that stored up grief in that chamber deep in yer heart.

I watched the tears stream doon yer face,
And I asked ye if ye were sure ye were in the right place,
To make the pie and deal wi’ aw that it wid take.

It’s no straightforward meal, a chicken pie, I said.
But with determination, you replied,
I want to make it fur my gran, fur Bella,
Simply fur her memory’s sake.

And so my love, I said,
I thoroughly support ye, in yer endeavour.
Grief takes aw forms, aw shapes,
And ye have tae honour her in yer ain way.
Ye should make that pie and we shall raise a glass,
Tae Bella!

That very day, the visitor, we came to name her, a Sparrowhawk appeared oot o’ thin air,
Freaked oot wi’ the storm, she must hav lost her way,
And at the skylight at the tap o’ oor tenement, she decided she wid stay.

Looking doon on oor flat,
A visitor from the spirit realm I believe in some cultures they wid have deemed her,
Throughout the evening, you would go oot tae check,
That she wis okay, that nae harm had reached her.

She looked doon at you,
You looked up at her,
And eye to eye, a mutual understanding wis underway.

I hope that she will be okay, you whispered, as we kissed goodnight.
And indeed, as the next day dawned, we saw that she had made it,
Through the wild stormy night,

Unscathed.

The sea had begun to calm itself and the boats in the harbour were nae longer agitated.

Bella’s casserole dish wis wheeched oot o’ the cupboard,
And the makin’ of the pie began,
A few hoors later, Bella’s pie was baked, savoured,
And oor visitor found her way oot o’ the building, uninjured.

A Sparrowhawk,
Bella had sent to say,
Tanis, ma wee yin,
From this earth I may have departed,
But in yer heart is where we can meet again,
If ye wull only believe it.

This new way o’ connecting has only jist started.