ATTEMPTS AT THE RATIONAL APPROACH
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It isn’t in important situations
that I miss you.
There is always someone who will help
when the toilet floods
or the tiles blow down.
I’ve learnt to wire a plug,
put up a shelf, to improvise,
make do, or go without.
I have grown a hardened shell
to wear when walking on my own
into restaurants, theatres,
cinemas and bars.
I have grown accustomed
to causing an odd number,
being partner-less at parties,
disturbing symmetry.
Till suddenly I hear the name
of a place we used to visit,
see a snippet in the paper
about an old time friend
think up a silly pun
which you would understand.
I have learned new thoughts,
new skills, tested new ventures,
found diversion in a dozen
first time ways.
But when the car keys disappear
from where I left them,
when next doors prowling cat
finds an open window,
when the sugar-bowl slides off
the kitchen table
there is no one here to shout at
but myself.
This wonderful poem is by Edna Eglinton and is copied from,
The Nation’s Favourite Poems of Remembrance.
Published by BBC Books. http://www.bbcshop.com/page/home
http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
29/01/08 @ 00:32