PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

For Saiom (Nellie) Shriver

1942-2023

"Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray."

Sai Baba

Your torrent of words 

are alight upon the ages

now and what is

left shining

after the spirit 

surmounts the 

solid-looking world

is what we always were . . .

before the parading

and the clamor.

To you 

love was everywhere

and everything—

something you 

breathed, and

form:

that was just a 

costume needed 

in this 

awful, dizzying,

beautiful saga,

but you wore it 

like a diva,

tossing grandeur and 

real peace out 

there into 

the dark . . .

And yes, 

they watched,

sometimes befuddled,

sometimes enraged, 

but never, ever 

bored,

and some even 

learned how 

to care.

Don't worry, 

ever-living fire,

all your fans, 

furry and human 

and all 

sorts of things

that ventured into

this world, 

don't weep. 

We cherish life 

as you 

performed it

in a world

so much better

because you 

were here.

Patricia Joan Jones