Reconciliations: Poetry and Pantsuits
A/N: Some of us have concluded that Sharon is rather in to the arts - and that extends to poetry. Just a forewarning that that is canon in this fic :)
Prologue
On her death bed, silver hair splayed out on the pillow, Sharon held her wife’s hand. Her time was near. She could feel the peace bloom in her heart and the weariness of her mind seep away, the tick-tocking becoming faster and faster. With shaky hands, pale and veiny, she retrieved the folded note from under the pillow.
“Andy, will you read this poem to me? Stanza by stanza?” The former blonde nodded, reached for the paper and settled back in her chair.
“’So now I've taken leave of life,
I thought you'd like to know, I still
Possess a mind in love, oh wife;
A soulful eye to catch a show of
Silent beauty - ever yours;
An ear to pick the metaphors
Of tonal dance in words you say,
Grasp a thought in verse you pray
Inside your head, bemused of mind,
Softly mournful, intertwined with
Understanding tears.’”
Reaching the end of the stanza, she stopped, tears falling freely from her eyes. With quivering voice, her wife spoke to her.
“I remember the first time I saw you. The first time we spoke. When we cried together at Rusty’s wedding. How we’d speak to each other in poetry. You’ve made me so happy over the years,” she offered a wan smile; “you can carry on, if you’d like.”
Andrea smiled back, and continued to read,
“’I'll drift a whisper o'er to you
To tell that I am quietly calm;
Keeping time till your adieu
To flesh, upon the carol of a
Psalm of consummation. Now!
A fresh endeavour - we're forever
One together, resting yonder,
Cross our open plane of blue.’”
“I’m going to go soon, probably today. I can feel it, Andy. But know I’ll always be here. Just think of me and I’ll be there. I’ll be there in your smile, in your heart and in every breath you take. And I’ll wait for you.”
That night, holding vigil at Sharon’s bedside, her hand comfortably numb from gripping Sharon’s hand so tightly, Andrea offered her the last words she would ever hear,
“’To be absent from the body
Is to be present with the Lord
The dust returns to earth
The spirit returns to God Who gave it.’ I can give you up, give you over to our Lord, Sharon, I am so, so thankful for our time together.”
She gave Sharon’s hand one last squeeze, gently removing her grip when she heard her wife gasp her last breath. Placing a kiss on her forehead, she spoke again, mostly for her own sake, “I’ll wait for you, too.”
A/N: A Fresh Endeavour © Mark R Slaugher, 2009. Other verses are: 2 Cor 5: 8, Eccl 12: 7.
Prologue
On her death bed, silver hair splayed out on the pillow, Sharon held her wife’s hand. Her time was near. She could feel the peace bloom in her heart and the weariness of her mind seep away, the tick-tocking becoming faster and faster. With shaky hands, pale and veiny, she retrieved the folded note from under the pillow.
“Andy, will you read this poem to me? Stanza by stanza?” The former blonde nodded, reached for the paper and settled back in her chair.
“’So now I've taken leave of life,
I thought you'd like to know, I still
Possess a mind in love, oh wife;
A soulful eye to catch a show of
Silent beauty - ever yours;
An ear to pick the metaphors
Of tonal dance in words you say,
Grasp a thought in verse you pray
Inside your head, bemused of mind,
Softly mournful, intertwined with
Understanding tears.’”
Reaching the end of the stanza, she stopped, tears falling freely from her eyes. With quivering voice, her wife spoke to her.
“I remember the first time I saw you. The first time we spoke. When we cried together at Rusty’s wedding. How we’d speak to each other in poetry. You’ve made me so happy over the years,” she offered a wan smile; “you can carry on, if you’d like.”
Andrea smiled back, and continued to read,
“’I'll drift a whisper o'er to you
To tell that I am quietly calm;
Keeping time till your adieu
To flesh, upon the carol of a
Psalm of consummation. Now!
A fresh endeavour - we're forever
One together, resting yonder,
Cross our open plane of blue.’”
“I’m going to go soon, probably today. I can feel it, Andy. But know I’ll always be here. Just think of me and I’ll be there. I’ll be there in your smile, in your heart and in every breath you take. And I’ll wait for you.”
That night, holding vigil at Sharon’s bedside, her hand comfortably numb from gripping Sharon’s hand so tightly, Andrea offered her the last words she would ever hear,
“’To be absent from the body
Is to be present with the Lord
The dust returns to earth
The spirit returns to God Who gave it.’ I can give you up, give you over to our Lord, Sharon, I am so, so thankful for our time together.”
She gave Sharon’s hand one last squeeze, gently removing her grip when she heard her wife gasp her last breath. Placing a kiss on her forehead, she spoke again, mostly for her own sake, “I’ll wait for you, too.”
A/N: A Fresh Endeavour © Mark R Slaugher, 2009. Other verses are: 2 Cor 5: 8, Eccl 12: 7.