Thursday 20 April 2023

ZKG 22: 'The real thing'

 The real thing

 

‘life’

maggie dramatically informed me

‘is NOT a dress rehearsal’

this she declaimed

in a mrs bucket-times-a-hundred

intonation

in impeccable RADA

without a trace

of her australian twang

 

on the last of my many visits

when we always dined

at her italian restaurant

round the corner

she had to pay a visit

to the doctor first

so i drove her there

 

so as not to have to overhear

the details of

her breast-cancer operation

i walked away from the surgery

 

at the restaurant

maggie declined her usual main dish

but reserved strength for the

zabaglione she

on earlier occasions

had sometimes spilt

after having got

‘deliciously drunk’

 

her funeral

was a sustained praise of life

in all its forms

 

a wonderful final curtain

 

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