Give It a Name Part 1

What name can I give To a dream that is uncertain To people who are unclear To a feeling I am unsure of To a message that is obscure? What name can I give To voices no longer heard Advice no longer given Words no longer spoken Questions no longer asked? What name can I give To an envelope without a letter To a crossword without clues To a jigsaw without pieces To death without life? It is death It is their death It is Mammy and Daddy’s death Dead Yes dead They are dead What name can I give them Now they are dead? If only they would say “Happy Easter” at the end of the line If only they could share In the memories and plans of mine If only they could cough or laugh Or snort As a sign of life Death is the knife That cuts the cake through And me too It is the sponge That soaks up all the blood And leaves the inside dry And on the crust am I Not cut through But still in pieces What name can I give To the sorrow that comes when – “I must tell them that. But of course –“ “I’m so happy now. But I can’t – “ I don’t have any name I waited but nothing came What name can I give To the water that flows through my hand Making their memory murky Painting their clothes a wrong colour Giving their tones a different sound Saying it’s square when it’s really round? ???? Two years ago Could I have believed In this dedication? My parents A subject of cold meditation Life moves on to a new generation Leaving them both behind At Death Station Do they know as little of me As I know of them? Can they switch on and see- Is there a News at ten? What name can I give this distance? What name can I give this mystery? They have passed without my resistance Into the huts of history I didn’t resist as I didn’t know How incredibly quickly they could go But I couldn’t have stopped them Even if I’d tried Spirits won’t be by bodies defied Spirits! Yes they are spirits now They live only in my mind And there, ideas grow Their lives I’m going to show Before it is too late While I’m still in this state While they’re here at my gate