9 May 2013
to Penny on our 43rd wedding anniversary
– written in a card on the front of which was a painting by Freda Kahlo called ‘Portrait of a Lady in White’
You were in a white
nightdress when I gave you
perfume, ‘My Sin’
by Lanvin
You were in a white
wedding dress
when we walked
down the aisle
and stepped from the church
into the dark
receiving
of life
I forget
what you wore when
you gave birth to our
children, but
I remember your
singular power
to be good
and your effortful
rising
as you still rise now
into all that you are
and will be