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OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

0 posted 2012-08-15 10:21 AM

MY UNCLE ERSKINE
12 August 2012

My uncle Erskine
from colder climes
these last fifty decades
and more
and now so far away
from me
in the Hereafter,
accept
with all my love
and my deepest understanding
this slice of Africa
my Africa
your Africa
our Africa
and the Africa
of thousands
upon thousands
upon thousands more
with its wide, wide skies
exploding with sunshine
spilling on tree
and waving grasses
and white buildings
gilded in celebration
of the new day
and blue, blue mountain crags
and lions
and leopards
and dragonflies
reflecting the colours of our beloved land
in translucent wings
remember
remember
when you galloped wildly
across the veld
on a farm
so very far away
so very long ago . . .

I miss,
tremulously,
the impassioned talks
we never had
of a land so missed
by you
so loved
by me
and I celebrate
and will forever remember
with sacred awe and quiet admiration
those precious Zulu words
that you remembered
at the age of ninety-seven
and that were wrapped
in poignant memories
and that you shared
with Zulu nurses
before you retired
to
a better place.

Owl

Startime1955
Senior Member

since 2012-04-22

Posts 1072
Alberta, Canada

1 posted 2012-08-15 11:30 AM

An amazing tribute to a man so loved by you...it is a pleasure to read...*BIG HUGS*

*may our dreams ever be magical*

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

2 posted 2012-08-15 02:56 PM

Thanks, Startime, but I didn't love him. I didn't know him. I met him once when I was 2 and once when I was 9, but I don't remember either time.

Owl

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis

since 2007-09-16

Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California

3 posted 2012-08-16 12:59 PM

Great poetry whether you knew him or not, Diana.
Ida

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

4 posted 2012-08-16 05:31 AM

Thanks, Ida. I would have LOVED to know him. I am learning to know him through the cousin who is continuing to communicate with me all the way from Scotland. She and I (and her sister) met briefly when they came out to South Africa when I was 9 and she was 6. My uncle was so very different from my father - also a difficult person, but far nicer, which sounds an awful thing to say and I feel bad saying it, but it is true.

Owl

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