Brendan (A leap-year leave-taking)

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I sit beside the grief
Of your leap-year
Leave-taking

Short of words

Hoping still that presence
Has some meaning

Like the bright smile
Of your welcome

Warmth of your voice

The fullness of your greeting
As you strode across the Green

The unexpected hug
Of our last meeting

Ceannt Avenue will never
Be the same again

And the seagulls know it

Squawking in the squall
That tosses them around
The heavy-laden sky

All poise useless
When the hailstones
Tumble down 

Upon the mourners 
At your grave

(2008)

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