The Lasting Image (Poetry)

She is not mad
she knows what she is doing
and gathers flowers
a raft of bright blossoms
sweet friends for the journey.

An armful of rosemary
strewn on the water
then all will remember
her youth and her beauty
will not have been wasted.

The river supports her
is kind to her body
it carries her gently
buoyed up by the current
she drifts in the shallows.

And all the while dreaming
of him who rejected
the gift that she offered
fish chew on the mud-stained hem
of her fine funeral dress.

Past high summer banks
and the tall-reeded flats
the maid floats on resigned
to a tragic conclusion
played out to the end.

Poor Ophelia’s image
romanticized sorrow
the horror of heartbreak
distracted by flowers
Death tries to be kind.