This is Kathy. She was on our art course at the CityLit and was a talented artist and poet. Sadly she died on December 29th 2012 and thus never completed the second year of the course. She is much missed. This is a link to her site http://kathylines.carbonmade.com/
This is one of her poems, read out at her funeral service by her son. I am sure it will resonate with anyone who has a teenager.
Seminal Times
These are the days that call out for rhymes,
Days made to capture in sonnets and lines,
Kept safe in the cabinet to look at sometimes,
Yes these are, well, seminal times.
Upstairs asleep till the day is half done,
You appear in our lives like you'd never been gone,
Making coffee while saying I do it all wrong,
Oh yes, these are your seminal times.
You flick on the TV, chat on the net
I ask if you've found work, you answer 'Not yet,'
You swat off my queries about people you've met,
Say these are your seminal times.
My routine is disrupted, your stuff sprawls on the floor,
I stop to cook something you loved from before,
You eat it but comment you're now carnivore,
Our of synch with your seminal times.
You may visit Niagara or fight in a war,
You will love and lose love and ask what's life for,
Take drugs, make great plans to be rich or stay poor,
All part of your seminal times.
I sit at the table, churn out my reports,
In the evening the telly drowns out any thoughts,
This is no kind of life comes your painful retort,
And how could I think that your love could be bought,
And what did I think, that a soul could be caught.
You leave on a Friday, your backpack is red,
I made you egg sandwiches despite what you said.
Every smile that you gave me remains in my head,
These, yes, these are my seminal times.
This is one of her poems, read out at her funeral service by her son. I am sure it will resonate with anyone who has a teenager.
Seminal Times
These are the days that call out for rhymes,
Days made to capture in sonnets and lines,
Kept safe in the cabinet to look at sometimes,
Yes these are, well, seminal times.
Upstairs asleep till the day is half done,
You appear in our lives like you'd never been gone,
Making coffee while saying I do it all wrong,
Oh yes, these are your seminal times.
You flick on the TV, chat on the net
I ask if you've found work, you answer 'Not yet,'
You swat off my queries about people you've met,
Say these are your seminal times.
My routine is disrupted, your stuff sprawls on the floor,
I stop to cook something you loved from before,
You eat it but comment you're now carnivore,
Our of synch with your seminal times.
You may visit Niagara or fight in a war,
You will love and lose love and ask what's life for,
Take drugs, make great plans to be rich or stay poor,
All part of your seminal times.
I sit at the table, churn out my reports,
In the evening the telly drowns out any thoughts,
This is no kind of life comes your painful retort,
And how could I think that your love could be bought,
And what did I think, that a soul could be caught.
You leave on a Friday, your backpack is red,
I made you egg sandwiches despite what you said.
Every smile that you gave me remains in my head,
These, yes, these are my seminal times.