I liked the idea of you being a bookend in the other relationship in the
same way that the shooting star appears at beginning and end.


Colin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Faust [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 3:32 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      sub: a shooting star in emergency
>
> I thought I saw a shooting star
> not far above the height of my head
> on the road outside my fence-line
>
> it moved fast enough to create the illusion
> but soon
> too soon
> it became just a car
> travelling the highway
> lights reflected
> on the overhead wires
> of the electricified train line
> and in a moment
> it was gone
>
> I feel I am a bookend to their relationship
>
> I was there at the beginning
> a dinner in a formal restaurant
> jean-jacques
> maybe the eatery by the sea
> maybe their other place
> maybe a different restaurant altogether
> I no longer recall
> but I was there
> the day she and he came out together
> the first time
> the time it all began
> to have a form and a shape
>
> they married
> both with the baggage
> that comes with certain years
> but they made their arrangements with each other
> and lived on through a decade or so
>
> occasional convergence
> constant friendship rekindled
> as required
> never a drama
> always there
> I find I've gone on that way with so many
> through the years
> these 'certain years'
> that we who are now of an age
> that was once the preserve of our parents
> and their middle-aged friends
> pass through on our individual journeys
> to wherever it is we are travelling
> the place where
> I don't really know
>
> and now I am here
> at the end
> after the catastrophe
> the death in the middle of
> everything
> that has lingered now
> for forty-eight hours
> while decisions about his lingering life
> the viability of his organs
> about the certainty of decease and its aftermath
> are made with solicitous care
> about someone I once knew
> and while I am only a peripheral
> I am involved
> in the whole of this
> process
> the series of steps and consequences
> I cannot resist the call
>
> I am the moral support
> observer and dispassionate advisor
> the ears and a heart
> for I was there when it all began
> and I am here now
> at the ending
>
> death is not the trauma here
> but that simple man wanted so much less
> than he has been given
> it is the more that is cause for trouble
> the tests and procedures
> to confirm
> the knowledge of a death inside his brain
> and the absence of his soul
> so long needed before the pronouncement
> in these things lies the pain
> and the distress to all
>
> but it is nearly done
> the beginning and the end
> accounted for
> it is late now and I have been affected
> in the morning
> I so hope it will be completed
> tubes removed
> organs taken and despatched to god knows where
> some other victim in need
> of saving
>
> the corpse prepared for viewing
> with the best decency good will can muster
> for this man who died
> two days ago
> but has not yet
> been allowed to stop breathing
>
> I was there at their beginning
> and now I will remain
> until the end
> until the deposit of ashes
> onto the moving water
> of the bay
>
> you know I thought tonight
> for a brief moment
> that I saw a shooting star
> skimming low
> across the horizon
> I know it was only an illusion
> only the reflection of a passing light
> but for that fleet moment
> I thought
> it could be real
>
> ~
>
> Frank
>
>
>
> The Tales of Faust poetry page can be found at:
> http://www.hotkey.net.au/~flp/F_index.htm
>
>
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