Afterglow, by Helen Lowrie Marshall
I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo, whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve to dry before the sun
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.
Keith
13th August 2020
How Did They Live? (Anon)
Not, how did they die, but how did they live?
Not, what did they gain, but what did they give?
These are the units to measure the worth
Of a person as a person, regardless of birth.
Not, what was their church, nor what was their creed?
But had they befriended those really in need?
Were they ever ready, with a word of good cheer,
To bring back a smile, to banish a tear?
Not, what did the sketch in the newspaper say,
But how many were sorry when they passed away?
Keith
13th August 2020
The Exile (Anon)
She surely raised her bairns well,
Taught us strength and pride,
Gave us love o’ homeland,
But couldna’ make us bide.
We set off young, we set off auld,
In search of pastures new
Yet, one by one, along life’s way
Find little that would do.
We have our homes, we make a life
On every foreign shore;
Choose a husband, find a wife,
And still we yearn for more.
To soothe a restless, aching heart
We chase another scheme,
Follow one more rainbow
Yet we never still the dream.
Aye, she let us go so easily
With never a backward look.
But...how could we know as we sailed or flew
Our heart was a baited hook,
With a line as long as we want it to be
To wherever we may roam,
Till...out of the blue, with one sharp tug
“Mother Scotland” reels us home.
Keith
13th August 2020