Sometimes using a cliché, like –
“she shined brighter than all of the stars in the sky” is okay,
if you’re pressed for the right words to describe someone incredible –
and you can’t immediately think of better wording
There isn’t always a reason to use new words –
when there are words that already exist for this purpose –
Or – at least that is what I believe at this moment
My friend Carol was a bright and shiny diamond
We marched the streets together, demanding equality –
and her voice was loud –
like a car crash or sudden thunder
I use clichés because I am too sad to be creative today –
I don’t have the emotional strength to be clever
And, for today – they’ll have to do
Her heart was as big as the ocean –
wide and long with compassion that spread for miles
I’d call her – sometimes late at night and say,
“Carol, I just can’t” and she’d tell me I could,
when I’m ready
One starless night, her kindness and friendship led me to return the open bottle of too many pills to the medicine cabinet –
where it belongs – and where it remains
Fast forward seven years…
A Home Depot purchase with hope extinguished - like a glass jar over a small and dying flame or a glass jar covering a butterfly that is suffocating –
because there is no longer any air
and a few hours later,
Carol - my beautiful butterfly friend – lay still -
“Carol!”, I screamed when I got the phone call – it wasn’t Carol calling
___
Carol’s memorial bench is on the waterfront at Lake Olmstead in Augusta, Georgia –
and I’m visiting her today
All of the benches in the park look exactly the same –
but hers is the most lovely
So, I sit here, and I sit here, and I sit here
And begin to cry
“Carol”, I whisper,
gently and quietly to an empty sky with nobody listening
Photo: Memorial Bench for Carol Taylor
