『メールに添えられた詩』

NZの友人TNが、メールをくれた。
She was a special woman and always held a warm spot in my heart.
母のことを、そんなふうに書いてくれていて、私は、ずっと昔、日本にやってきた彼女に自分の浴衣を着せて喜んでいた母の姿を思い出した。

Here's a poem I'd like to share with you and your family, by Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918), Canon of St Paul's Cathedral
私は、この詩を共有できる人と共有したいので、TNに断りなくここに転載させてもらう。
きっと彼女も許してくれることだろう。

DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!