Ive seen the smiling beautiful faces of precious youth

Taking fear and horror by its loathsome breath

Who washed themselves clean of its stain

With nothing more then countless courage

And disdainful acts of random kindness.

 

Ive seen the happy gentle porcelain faces of our very best

The ordinary made extraordinary by the casually vile

Who stared into the face of blackened depths

With the unblinking carefree eyes of seraphim

And beheld the ultimate darkest thief of time.

 

Ive seen the swirling massed energies of life

Throw down and trample the cancerous filth 

Who danced a polka of love versus hate

On casually cast low fat feet and legs

Made thin by the creeping crapulous march of sarcomas.

 

Ive seen the decent divest and devolve into darkness

Then return with hearts fists raised and bloodied

Who then turned to fight, flimsy, but fathomless in bravery

Bravery boundless and countless in hurled handfuls of humility

Throwing left hooks of humanity and right hooks of honour.

 

I’ve seen Princesses and paupers, Princes and Kings

All join in love for the bedraggled unbeaten battling child

Who have fast become love and turned wonderful champion

In a war of mindless molecules and bastardised chromosomic beauty

Reaching with loving arms across deserts and mountains, oceans and seas.

 

Ive seen the casual causality of cancers insidious intrusion

Fought by the clinical caring chemotherapeutic insertions

Whose hosts hungry for freedom and fancy

Tethered to multi coloured pipes full of hope and horror 

Piped at one time with purpose and time to kill.

 

Ive seen the hairless faces of beatific paleness

Smiling the loving smile known only by the loved 

Who I’ve seen lift lost and lonely scared parenthood

By the scruff of the failure of tenuous fearful torment

Turning heads and hearts from tremulous terrors.

 

Ive seen the shared love of hearts shattering shared fears

Bonding the bold and the bloodied, broken but unbending

Who I’ve seen battered and beaten but unbowed

Dragged howling and kicking into peaceful postures

More powerful then all the angers of hate. 

 

Ive seen power and strength enough to change the world

Brought to the front by human will and devotions endless compassion

Who’s heroes dress in cotton polyesters of blue, green and white 

Faces awash with secret tears hearts heavy with hope and hidden anguish

While dispensing from the richest of loves deeply mined seams.

 

Ive seen brave caring people from the world of humanities finest 

With massive hearts fists raised to defend their gentle charges

Who see with their souls more then they should and often not enough 

A “Thank you”  is misplaced misdirected misunderstood and unneeded 

They say.

 

Ive seen families forged and bonded in shared sufferance

Hideous in concept but written with a strength to hold tight the levee

Who become a multitude of cradling helping loving hands

They wrap and enfold and enclose in empathy when the levee breaks its caress

And show boundless invocation of deity and devotion “en preiere”.

 

I’ve seen that gentle goodbye draw hate and anger like countless thunderstorms

Who’s crashing ranting wrested hearts from bodies 

Ripping minds from the world to dark places of horror and fear

Pungent hateful places of boundless pain and shambolic distress

Places that trap and take hold in a foul embrace.

 

Ive seen the last perfect smile.

Depthless disaster tearing the heart mind and soul.

Who’s gentle goodbye brought such howls of pain 

Reaching out with hollow eyed tattered tendrils

Never to be quieted by mortal minds tearful inadequate bindings

 

I’ve seen at the end all thats left is minds pictures calmness

Who’s pictures painted with measureless care,

Pictures of love and devotion, to balance not supplicate 

Pictures that can still be dragged into dark dormant depths

Unsurpassable emotions of family Beauty and virtuous Love.

 

“Goodbye we loved you” is the final refrain

Who’s inadequate sentence is barely farewell

But “we loved you” is and will always be our final greeting

As we meet you on mindful paths of remembrance

And final footfalls of loss.

 

“We loved you” 

All of you.