Don't Ask Why (Lisa B)

While there's life, there's hope, they say;

I think it is the other way.

It is the light of hope that keeps us all alive;

Without it, all life's pain we'd not survive.

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I don't ask why; I know too well

What it is to live in Hell.

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No home, no child, no loving friend,

No soulmate could forestall this end.

It's not the outside things

That keep us going, when it seems

That life is nothing more

Than pain and broken dreams.

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It is the stubborn, wilful pilot light

That even in the darkest night

At lowest ebb, at moments most forlorn,

Promises another day will dawn.

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I don't ask why; I understand defeat

The darkness has my own light in retreat.

.

I don't ask why; I have no doubt,

For you the light of hope just guttered out.

.

We who are left behind salute you;

Your love, your courage, laughter and delight.

.

It is not your strength or passion that has failed you,

You just lost that tiny guiding light.

I don't ask why; I have no doubt,

For you the light of hope just guttered out.

.

I don't ask why; There is no reason

For a life to end as sharply as a season.

.

I don't ask why; I have no doubt,

For you the light of hope just guttered out.

.

And we who are left alone with sorrow,

Another burden for our intolerable load tomorrow,

Will we lose our own hope this dark night?

Or can we hold, each of us, to our own light?

.

Pain can feed the light of hope,

Reminding us that we are still alive,

We still have choices,

We can survive.

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For each of us the choice remains the same -

Shall this sorrow feed the darkness or the flame?

.

(c) Jenny Ford 2006

A much-loved member of our community, Lisa B, took her own life. She had been struggling with depression off and on, but it was unexpected, and shocking to all of us. This was my memorial for her.