She carries her strength in her bitterness,
Overdrawn on love:
The projection of all that’s Outside through her voice and attitude
Is her triumph.
Being strong, however, comes from within,
And burning the flame with a view to the Outside
Starves the within of oxygen;
Her great pretence devours her.
Where’s all that strength now?
Cancer invaded her bones:
The wish to be strong to the outside world
Sapped her vitality.
I still live;
She’s dead;
And her great dream, to be carried through by force of will and determination,
Died with her.
Pretend not; be as you are; fail, and worry not:
The future can’t be forced.
