TALKING IN THE DARK

Celebration of the Life of Joan Didion,
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine,
21 September, 2022.

Is this what we will become?
Suddenly old, crumpled and
no longer cool, remembering
someone who recently died.

By the time the sun has set
we have listened to everything
and it is still early in New York.
The violin echoes against all

those American accents and
every story is more serious
than we expected, personal
and poignant. An actress

shares a memory and then
reads the final two pages
of Joan’s book. She is a star,
brings it to life, brings tears

to our eyes. And later
the singer bewitches us
with an out-of-tune guitar
and one repurposed song.

It is what we have become:
suddenly old, crumpled and
no longer cool, remembering
those who have recently died.

Rupert M Loydell