I found you

silent. You had

destroyed your own selfless life

in bitter recrimination and in protest

of an unfair

and cruel world

which abused you

in your absence

and who could not

see, or would not open their eyes

to the possibility

that they could be happy,

more than a survivor.

I am to

be sure

the most

doomed of men

to have found you in such quiet repose

amongst your books,

as I am

the first to have to mourn you.

Ian D. Hall 2017