#SeasonalSonnets: 9th Dec.

Hello my lovely readers,

Tonight's entry (the ninth in my #SeasonalSonnets series) is again slightly later. This is because both the poem and the post have taken me rather a long time to write. As will hopefully be clear from the piece, today is a very emotional day, it being the fifteenth anniversary of the death of my dear friend Gemma Watson, who would now be twenty-six. She was in the year above me at primary school and we were very close. Her appendix burst and it was a huge shock to everyone. I wish I could write more about it, but just those few sentences have hurt, because even fifteen years later I still feel the grief as much as I did then...as I do for my friends who have passed away in the time since. I also don't think she would want me to dwell on the pain, so I'm just going to hope that the words of my sonnet do her justice.

The accompanying 'light drawing' is, like she was, about as close to a gem as it can be.

Thank you for reading - and thank you Gem for being such a special soul and fabulous friend. I can't believe it's fifteen years since we last laughed together - you're always in my heart.

9^th December

‘Twas fifteen long, yet so short, years ago

in 2001, on this December day,

that, first of the twelve close friends I’ve now let go,

Gemma, my dear school playmate, passed away.

Therefore this verse is more than tinged with sadness –

and, unlike its siblings, has ta’en hours to write –

yet I’m sitting here and smiling at the gladness

she brought to me, and to all others, with her light.

She really did personify her name,

and sparkled like a bright and precious gem –

no pair of moments with her was the same

(my mem’ries won’t all fit in just one poem).

So tonight when I get in I’ll light a candle

and be thankful that she taught me not to ‘stand’ still.

Copyright Jessi Parrott December 2016