Community: A poem by Dorothy Neil
July 3, 2008 · Updated 10:29 PM
Its been just a year since Whidbey Island lost its favorite historian, writer, author, poet, columnist and friend, Dorothy Neil. She was known and loved by everyone. Recently, her friend Mavis Chic Schulle found this poem Dorothy wrote in 1994, in which she celebrated her last performance. I am passing it on to you. We hope you can find room for it in her favorite newspaper, the Whidbey News-Times.
Lee Brainard
Oak Harbor
When I go ...
If and when I leave those whom I love,
Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears,
But laugh and talk, and view the world
Through rosy glasses, tomorrows hope ...
And make the world a better place to live,
If only for a moment, in a small spot on earth.
Recall when I was with you, we found
Humor in the smallest things, we found
Joy in local singing, choirs that
Lifted me a step nearer that heaven, where
I am now, waiting while I visit with
The ones that left before me, ones I love,
Whom I have longed to see and clasp
In unrequited ecstasy. Tears of joy,
The only tears.
There are so many things that I would
Love to say to you, should I have stayed;
So many things to write, that may be lost,
But someone else may do those things,
While I remember only that I love you
With a love that will be more precious
When we meet again!
Dorothy Neil
1994
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