Monday, May 21, 2007

Poem in memory of your great-grandmother

Hi Grandchild. You will soon be joining us in this world. Don't know when you will be able to read this. I got this from one of your grandaunt, who said that she doesn't know how to express her feelings, but found this poem which helps. This is obviously a poem directed to the memory of your great-grandma, but she did not state her source. If she ever do, I will update this if the author gives her permission.

Update July 11, 2007: Actually got the information much earlier, but only editing this post now. Apparently my children already guess who the real author is. It is I who is blur and didn't know (actually I have some idea but without confirmation, don't want to put it down in writing). I didn't ask the author for permission, neither did she gave any indication of whether it is forthcomming. But I suppose saying that it is Lewis's third grandaunt without mentioning names should do no harm. The author of this poem says she wanted to write a poem to express her feelings but didn't know how to start. Then she saw a poem in the newspaper (I think) and the first few lines gave her the inspiration, and the rest just flowed easily.

Here is the poem:

We speak your name with love and pride,
We smile through tears we try to hide.
We thank you ,Mum, for the years we shared,
The love you gave, the way you cared.
You left a place no one can fill,
We miss you, Mum, and always will.

A year ago,
The long day closed,
The hill was too steep to climb.
You've journeyed hard'
You deserved to rest.
God opened the heavenly gates
And whispered softly,'Come inside'
And there you saw Pa
Whom you've often asked to take you home.
Welcome home he said
No more suffering, no more pain.
You were so glad to see
The father who told you so gently
when you left for another land,
'Siew Yin, it won't be too hot there
You'll find relief under the trees'.
And so you left with Pa
Bound for a land unknown
But you persevered and built a life anew.
You must have seen your Ma, the gran we never knew.
And what about the gran we knew?
She must have smiled and said,'What kept you?'
You must have seen your brothers,
One so kind you often said,
The other died so young it must have hurt.
Did you see the daughters who died before you did,
And whom you must have sorely missed?
One went so young you rarely talked of her,
The other we knew and loved.
We know not what you felt or knew
We can only guess how much it hurt.
Did you see your only daughter-in-law
Who so bravely fought and lost.
Did you finally get to see again
Those relatives and friends you have yearned to meet?
Have fun up there'
You deserve every bit of it.