A poem written in Canada by Aileen, February 2006
CLYDE
One single moment I got the call
That icy day I felt so small.
Eleven months of getting older
Making steps and getting bolder
All was gone in that single day
I picked up the phone to hear her say
'It's all over he has finally gone'
His struggle was over that was so long.
A life extinguished in the blink of an eye
Like a candle flame gave up and died.
The smoke that lingers in the air,
Made me think he was still there
I hear my mother sobbing, I try
Not to give in, let go and cry
But a thousand miles from my home
I let go for the gentlest man I have known.
I look at the panda he drew for me;
An artist's view of an animal that awed me,
A talented man with so much to give,
Did not have the proper chance to live.
All of a sudden I wish I was home,
As I sit shaking while holding the phone.
Back in England with its greenness and wetness
So unlike Clyde's home in dry, yellow Texas.
