Kate Poem by Mary Champion

Now was the time to downsize-
that's what her children had said -
move away, nearer to them,
now that their father was dead.

But, strolling by the lakeside
that lay by her garden's edge,
she gazed sadly at the boat
that was moored ‘longside the hedge.

A shabby old rowing boat.
bobbed like a cork in the swell,
hadn't been used since he'd gone.
- Kate was no rower herself.

Casts her mind back sixty years -
when he'd won her broken heart,
solemnly declaring love
and promising a new start.

But how could she bear to face
the risk that he would leave her,
shamed - again at the altar?
Might he prove a false lover?

At last, she had surrendered
to his gentle loving way,
but they must elope she'd said.
There would be no wedding day.

They met down by the lake shore,
when her heart at last had dared,
he'd rowed her in that old boat
to the island home they'd shared.

He had been true to his word,
and she never had regrets.
Now she shed her secret tears,
could she ever acquiesce?

Leave behind the memories
that gave meaning to her life,
the man who'd stood beside her,
though she'd never been his wife.

Hesitantly, heart in mouth,
she stepped down into the boat
and took her final journey.
When they read the words she wrote,

they understood the reason
she could not agree to leave
this home that was her refuge,
where she'd learned how to believe.