After the death of Mike’s mum Joan, and of her friend Margaret, Mike and Mark (Margaret’s son) decided to try to put some of their thoughts into words and write a poem for the two of them, based on the starting point of the couplet: “Margaret and Joan, where did they roam?”
After the deaths of their husbands, Margaret and Joan embarked on a series of wonderful holidays around Europe, and some of these are in the poem. But also the question of where they are now is addressed. Both woman were committed Christians, and at Margaret’s funeral we heard John Donne’s words:
Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening, into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light; no noise nor silence but one equal music; no fears nor hopes but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings but one equal eternity.
But Joan was also a scientist, and sometimes had doubt in her mind that she would meet her husband in some idealised place called heaven. Maybe they would just meet as atoms or particles, and some words from a song written by the band Lady Maisery came to mind:
We’re all made from the same as the earth,
And some day we’ll roam it together.
Particles gliding, dancing, colliding,
We’ll wander, entangled, forever …
The phrase “Passed beyond the confines of this world” comes from The Lord Of The Rings.
And the answer? Who knows...
Margaret and Joan,
Tell me where did they roam?
The lemon groves of Sicily,
The glories that were Rome?
The spices of Morocco,
The vineyards of Provence,
Grapes on the balcony,
Chianti for the dance.
Where are they now?
Where are they now?
Margaret and Joan,
How far did they roam
Before their happy minuet
Danced them back home?
Did they see the Alhambra,
The fountains of Seville?
Did they visit Santa Croce?
Do they linger in there still?
Where are they now?
Where are they now?
Have they passed in peace and quiet
Beyond the confines of this world?
Or are they particles gliding,
Entangled and curled?
No darkness nor dazzling,
Just one equal light,
No Joans and no Margarets,
But a peace that unites.
Where are they now?
Where are they now?