Two Poems in Memory of Lindsey

It’s been a year filled with sad news for me. On Wednesday, when I was attending funeral services for the mother of one of my oldest friends, I spoke with the parents of one of my former students. They told me that another of my former students—a girl named Lindsey who was just thirty years old—had died unexpectedly. Lindsey was the older sister one of my daughter’s best friends in elementary and middle school. It is always a shock to me when I hear of the death of a child that I had taught in second or third grade.

Lindsey was beautiful and bright and very sweet. Her mother was warm and loving. Her brother and two sisters were great kids. I’m dedicating the following two poems to the memory of Lindsey.

Little Elegy

for a child who skipped rope
by X. J. Kennedy

Here lies resting, out of breath,

Out of turns, Elizabeth

Whose quicksilver toes not quite

Cleared the whirring edge of night.

You can read the rest of the poem here. You’ll have to scroll down the page to find Little Elegy.

Child of a Day
by Walter Savage Landor

Child of a day, thou knowest not
The tears that overflow thy urn,
The gushing eyes that read thy lot,
Nor, if thou knewest, couldst return!

You can read the rest of the poem here.

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At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original poem that I wrote in remembrance of Karla Kuskin, the award-winning children’s poet who passed away in August.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Wild Rose Reader this week!