It isn’t every day you are immortalized in verse. I have been honored with an amazing poem written for me by a dear friend, and I thought it was worth sharing here.
Feeding the Soul (for Christy)
Above the simmering pot she stands
Where cookfires blaze and voices sound,
With spice and knowledge in her hands
And rousing choruses are found;
To rise with song and levity
And offer forth the brimming bowl,
With honest hospitality
She ready stands to feed the soul.
Where songs are sung and viands shared
Her laughter hangs upon the air,
And fruits are joyfully prepared
Like celebrations waiting there,
And she, bright-visaged and sweet-voiced,
With melody en casserole,
Will cheerfully a flagon hoist
And from her larder feed the soul.
And if of music you would taste,
To set your spirit’s day a-right,
Come forth in song and joyous haste
To satisfy your appetite.
No Kingly feast could be more fair,
Nor dulcet notes more sweetly roll,
And if your spirit hungers there
Her melodies will feed the soul.
And when in time her tale is told,
And when her voice to us falls mute,
When glowing embers all are cold
Then shall we gather, resolute,
To sing her praise and lift a glass
A life lived fully to extol,
And down the board a trencher pass
To honor one who fed the soul.
[2 April, A.S.L, 2016] Peggy Hicks