For Harry by Carol Naylor

Anne, Harry and grandson, David.
 
A year of dread, suffering inevitability
Of loss, someone we all treasured. You dad.
Husband, father, grandfather, multi-faceted padre.
Too harsh a sentence and too little time
As fragile egos broke through emotional strain. The truth
Dawned, reality, your light fading
Shaken and thwarted by insecurities of life.
We experienced your suffering,
Watched you pitifully declining, slipping away
From the endless love of your family.
 
The hardest part was saying goodbye, God bless, adios.
United in our grief, fondness of heart,
We will treasure the memories and celebrate your life
Of achievement, a wealth of delight.
 
Newcastle University Graduation. 1976.
 
 
Harry Naylor fell asleep on the 21st February 2006 after he lost his battle with cancer.
 
 
COPYRIGHT 2013. Permission must be obtained from the author before using this poem.

Comments

  1. janice mcdermott12 April 2013 at 15:48

    A wonderful tribute to your dad. He was a lovely person. Jan x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carol Naylor16 April 2013 at 11:31

    Thank you, Janice. I read it at his funeral.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joy Lennick1 November 2018 at 08:22

    Heart-tending to remember your Dad in that way, Carol. We should all appreciate our parents. I know that I did. xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Carol Naylor1 November 2018 at 08:38

    12 years ago although it seems like yesterday. Thanks for reading it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Stranger From Lagos by Cyprian Ekwensi

Image
  image courtesy of Google images   Ekwensi was born in Nigeria in 1921. He wrote about the country and people of Nigeria-city life and life in the rural areas. Loko Towns and Other Stories was published in 1966. A Stranger From Lagos was one of the nine stories in that collection.   The writer explores the place of women in society. Lilian is trapped by social conventions. Her fiance treats her like a possession as if he owns her. It is written in third person to allow the writer's thoughts to merge with Lilian's. The protagonist is unable to speak to the stranger in public although it is obvious that there is a strong physical attraction between the two. If Lilian asserts herself she will go against social conventions (for females) and her reputation will be damaged through rife and unhealthy gossip. She will therefore be stigmatised as a loose woman. The story explores her inner conflicts in accepting these "conventions" or flaunting them as well a
Read more

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson.

Image
                Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. Book Review. "Novels gave you a completely false idea about life, they told lies and they implied there were endings when in reality there were no endings, everything just went on and on and on." These apparently disparate case histories cover 1970, 1994 and 1979 involving girls who had either been murdered or had simply vanished into thin air. Private Investigator, Jackson Brodie, beautifully drawn but flawed through and through had spent 12 years in the Cambridgeshire Constabulary and before that the military police. Forty-five years of age and working on irksome or dull cases like Binky Rain and her missing cats when he becomes inundated with requests to solve three case histories of people who have been seriously damaged by crimes committed against their loved ones. "He was used to being a voyeur, the outsider looking in, and nothing, but nothing that anyone did surprised him anymore." There i
Read more

A Stranger From Lagos by Cyprian Ekwensi Final Part

Image
                                                                    courtesy of Google images Lilian uses her sexuality to liberate as well as attract the opposite sex. Ekwensi uses "wiggled." Lilian had just had her hair done and was wearing very large, loop earrings. This had been done for her lover's benefit. She was conscious of all the eyes watching the two of them. The writer uses the simile: she felt like something projected on a 3D screen for all Onitsha to view. We are told very little about the stranger other than that he was tall and good-looking. We are told he didn't feel embarrassed by all of the attention. He would ruin her reputation and he was well aware of this: he would scandalize her and then she would be left to the gossips. You get the sense that this has probably happened before. The dialogue here is disjointed. Mystery surrounds him but his desire to see Lilian is compelling: "I have wanted to see you" and he refers to his
Read more