It’s not your absence that pains me
To Stuart
It is not your absence that pains me
it's your presence
essence of Stuart everywhere.
Like seeds in spring
your daily deeds sprout
and though you toil elsewhere
wild fruits fill my island world:
that wall you built,
those kindlings collected in old feedbags,
those logs stacked against absence suns,
I see your head bent to these tasks
spring evenings stretching out as you worked discriminating:
“once you've lifted a stone it should be placed
good dykers know this.”
The rhythm of work, letting life flow.
Your words seldom resonate
Yet your innocence flowers
Utterly.
It is not your absence that pains me
You are here
Essence of Stuart
Everywhere.
19 October 1993