Photography © Jennifer Matthews

 

‘All that a woman should be, she was.’
                     (1891)

I wonder, did he sit for hours by her stone?
Did he curse the world for his loss?

Would it sadden him to see the moss that grows
Into the carving of her name?

You can no longer see the surname,
No one spares her a glance.

I only came here by chance, to see
A simple act of love and grief.

The rain breaks through the leaves,
The church sighs overhead.

The ground shifts with the silence of the dead,
Soaked in the sadness of things that were.

‘All that a woman should be, she was’

I re-read the inscription,
Struggling to believe that a man can capture
The end of his world
In a sentence.

 

Grant Lamb is a poet living and studying poetry in the North East. His work tackles loss, often through a biblical lens. He’s also great at pinball.

Poet/Photographer Jennifer Matthews’ poetry has been published in Nepal by Pen Himalaya and locally by the Wilderness Retreat Writers Organization, Midway Journal, The Somerville Times, Ibbetson Street Press and Boston Girl Guide. Jennifer was nominated for a poetry award by the Cambridge Arts Council for her book of Poetry Fairy Tales and Misdemeanors. Her songs have been released nationally and internationally and her photography has been used as covers for a number of Ibbetson Street Press poetry books and has been exhibited at The Middle East Restaurant, 1369 Coffeehouses, Sound Bites Restaurant in Somerville and McLean Hospital.