Queen Mother's Funeral Poem She is gone by David Harkins

I went to the 'service of celebration for the life of Andrew Eslick Floyd (25 Feb 1951-21 March 2015) on Friday 17 April and the order of service included the poem He is gone by David Harkins.

Who is David Harkins, I wondered. I looked him up on the internet and discovered the story of his poem. It was read at the funeral of HM The Queen Mother, after which various people tried to track down the author.

The author is David Harkins, a painter in the Lake District, who had made several attempts at establishing himself as a writer, with little success. The poem was not written for a funeral but an expression of unrequited love for a girl he met before he married his wife who now poses for his paintings of nudes.

So for David Harkins, fame at last.

The poem is adapted for funerals by changing he to she, like this

He is Gone

You can shed tears that he is gone
Or you can smile because he has lived

You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left
....
You can remember him and only that he is gone
or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
***
See poeticexpressions.co.uk

Angela Lansbury B A Hons, author of:
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