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Poem for Marianne Faithfull:
When We Gathered to Send Her Away
Did we sprinkle her with flowers?
Did we adorn her with glass beads strung on leather thongs?
Did we build her a box of stone?
Were we gentle as we laid her down?
Did we give her bowls brimming full
for her long journey?
Was she dressed in comforting rich furs
and fine fabrics?
Did we wash her skin with fragrant oils?
Did we dress her hair with delicate
gold pins and bright pearls?
Did we fill her hands with coins to spend?
Did we all come together to
Iay her down in her newly built shelter
below the grass?
Fields spread out in all directions.
Wind scours the rocky plains.
Trees bend in the wind
during times of storms.
Oaks die leaving
rings of young saplings.
They will sing to her of leaving
and coming again in new forms.
She will be found in her dream time place
among the stones and stars.