Annie Parmeter died on 13 October 2009, so this week, as the anniversary of her death approaches, I've chosen to use one of her poems this Saturday. When I knew her, her health was never good, but for that reason, she valued life so much more.
As one of her friends wrote after her death: "I remember very clearly her speaking to me (a few years ago) in tones of outrage, of her inability to understand how people could lack gratitude for the simple fact of being alive. "
This poem comes from the tribute book "Annethology" which I put together after her death, as part of my way of coping with grief, and I think it sums up that philosophy very well. I illustrated it with one of her childhood photos, one which I think captures that child's joy in living which we should never lose.
This Precious Life
Every day we shape our world with our words,
Over and over again reassuring ourselves how it is.
Let death be our guide and hear it whisper
‘Time is short, let go and see the world as it really is,
a place of true wonder and untold possibilities’.
So without judgement, without preconception,
All senses fully awake,
Let us step carefully and consciously
Into every new moment afresh
As if it were our first and last day
On this earth.
Over and over again reassuring ourselves how it is.
Let death be our guide and hear it whisper
‘Time is short, let go and see the world as it really is,
a place of true wonder and untold possibilities’.
So without judgement, without preconception,
All senses fully awake,
Let us step carefully and consciously
Into every new moment afresh
As if it were our first and last day
On this earth.
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