Larry was my best friend, my most avid fan, my terrific co-author and my one true love. He was also a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. The poem below by W.H. Auden shows how I feel today. Please forgive me for all this sadness, dear readers.
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
*****
So glad that Larry had family around for his last minutes. But I know you will carry on because you were without him so long before.
The poem is perfect.
Ron