CHAPTER 9: LOVE DOESN’T DIE
A poem by Merrit Malloy embodies the serenity and acceptance Peter feels after traveling through so much pain.
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“Epitaph” by Merrit Maloy
Peter Bruun
2021, 15”x22”, watercolor, gouache & pencil on paper
Autumn. Ochre needles carpet the forest floor and browning leaves cling to trees. I sit again at the shore, lunch in hand. Low silver light dances on the water’s dimpled surface as jittery red squirrels leap from branch to branch gathering cones for winter.
I have come so far; endured so much.
I read once more: Merrit Malloy’s Epitaph.
“Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.”
In the soft light of day I exhale, and know everything is okay.