I just got back from my friend Sarah’s funeral. Hard to believe that after these past fifteen years of friendship she’s really gone. I wrote this poem and ended up giving it to her family…they had someone read it at the service today. Sarah had a distinctive face and a distinctive heart. I’m glad that so many people found some kind of solace or comfort in what I wrote for her.

She Never Wore a Mask

 

She never wore a mask;

She bore her joy so earnestly

For everyone to see.

Any question she had, she’d ask,

Transparent as a ray of sun

And every bit as bright.

You never had to wonder

If she was having fun,

When she was, in herself,

A stream of constant light.

 

So rarely do we find

Someone who speaks their mind

Has only pleasant things to say

Yet this was Sarah’s way.

Her thoughts and joys alike were shared

Without hesitation

And in this way she faired

Always an inspiration.

 

She never wore a mask

Though so many of us do

And surely it’s a lesson:

When she laughed, we did too.

She didn’t mute her happiness

For some self-conscious sense of grace

But wore it freely on her face—

Not in part, but in whole,

For the only grace that Sarah needed

Blossomed within her soul.