Poem for Walter, on the occasion of his memorial celebration
You understood what it takes to build a person like you.
Materials such as loss, heartbreak, confusion, crushing separation and an early awareness
Of the knowledge of good and evil. Yet you organised all of this within
A quiet certainty of being loved.
You rarely spoke of any of this, but you always knew which side was up.
This meant there were other things you knew, too:
Such as how German beer was the best (but you rarely drank it yourself);
Why every single person you met was worth talking to (but you didn’t try to impress them).
How you could make a difference by holding the space for a child,
Simply by listening and being kind. How to be interested, and free of prejudice.
You made loyalty and fidelity look easy.
Sometimes it seemed as if you lived in a condition of simplicity,
As if life was straightforward;
As if you knew for certain we are all ok, as if you knew
You can always catch the last train home.
Alyss Thomas (niece)
February 2017
Alyss
20th March 2017