Hi All AGHS 'Old Girls"
WELCOME! WELCOME ! WELCOME
Monday, January 4, 2010
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A blog about psychology, poetry and life. Also a special invitation to graduates of Antigua Girls High School to share theri memories and accomplishments with each other.
Hi Contributors to the AGHS Network,
ReplyDeleteAs part of that network you probably heard of June Abbott's sudden departure and read or recieved a copy of the poem I wrote for her. It is reproduced below.
As the New Year 2010 opened I thought the best memorial to June was to create a Cyber Network. The poem I wrote and some of you received to commemorate this idea is also reproduced below.
So now it is YOUR turn to share your thoughts, images and/or memories.
Best Always,
Elaine
PART I
From Antigua Girls’ High School “old girls”: An Elegy for June
Our Dear Friend and Classmate June Rita Cavelle Abbott
composed by
Elaine Henry Olaoye, November 6, 2009,
Our tears are precious
They are tiny jeweled drops
Cascading symbols of how deeply we care,
Symbols of a loss of someone beautiful and rare
Symbols of the shock that laid bare
The mystery, the finality of death
That is a not always experienced as fair…
Death, that can claim some of us before we wear
Any signs that our departure might be near.
Your death claimed you on the day of your birth
You were taken, reclaimed by another sphere of life on earth
With such remarkable precision and symmetry
We are all left pondering afresh this ancient and modern mystery.
You have returned to the island of your birth
And we surround you now with our love
Our memories of your mirth,
Of your wisdom, your compassion, your independence, your strength
That allowed you abroad to succeed, to shine
While not forgetting family and friends here who were in line
For your support, your counsel and your care.
As we say our goodbyes to you here
In the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Where as AGHS girls we sang so, many times
We offer thanks for all the gifts collectively we have received,
And the blessings of a good education that at AGHS, we each had.
Death transcends human reason and understanding
Just as the act and circumstances of birth are not fully comprehended.
Death points us all to the presence of the unknown
And dimensions of each of our lives that we do not fully own.
Rest in love, June, as you return home
As your spirit is freed, to bless all you have loved
And all, you can now encircle in your fold.
Reflections after Saying Goodbye to June
OLAOYE January 2010
Part II
Our memories are precious
At times the only connections linking us together
In a fast paced, newly constructed world where
We have gone in many different directions
In many different places
In so many different psychological spaces
Aging also with differing physiological graces…
Our memories are precious
Able to allow us reflections and perceptions
Unique, limited in time, limited in location
Limited in attention
Yet welcome, though oft neglected,
Ignored though sorely needed
Yet, if well heeded
Can restore, can correct, can soothe
Can comfort, can even heal
Old psychic conflicts, assaults, bruises, wounds
That still oozing, at times still bleeding, lead
To loss of vital energies, persistence of personal doubts
That can be transformed, harnessed
Used, to reform, to build more personal joy, strength
More confidence in our generation and its contributions
As well as more potent, more mature relations
Through technological networking allowing us to connect
Not just at someone’s death
But also at our own chosen creative cyber celebrations.
hi i am a student of AGHS, and i have misplaced the essay paper for the Elaine Henry Olaoye and Tori Scholarship. I was wondering if it can be found online.
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