Not part of the Maddening Crowd

Tribute to a friend and neighbour Madge

By Stanley Collymore

 

Neither in my life time nor that of my great-grandchildren,

who are yet to be born, will the venerable concepts of

altruistically giving or in return genially accepting

compliments as well, as willingly and selflessly

praising those who’re undeniably deserving

of such recognition in precisely the same

manner as there are no qualms in either

liberally dispensing criticism or else

conveying gratuitous condemnation if the vexatious

accuser has a mind to, ever become embedded in

British culture; as it’s much easier to criticize

than perspicaciously praise someone if, as

it happens, you were to find yourself in

that category of completely brainless

clowns that significantly, but alas,

infest the hinterland of Britain.

 

So why then do folk like me carry on irrepressibly

to keep banging our heads against what appear

to be seemingly intractable brick walls and

always with the existent prospect in that

procedure of really achieving nothing

for our earnest labours? The honest

answer to that pertinent question?

Outstanding persons like you

Madge: formerly a stranger however no more

so; but instead is someone that has become

a most treasured friend and thoroughly

appreciated neighbour; and who on

my part and profoundly together

with correspondingly beloved,

time-honoured and enduring

ones of this genre certainly

makes each personal act

of generosity that I’m

occupied with, very

much worth doing.

 

© Stanley V. Collymore

31 December 2016.

 

 

Author’s Remarks:

This poem was inspired by and is dedicated in fond tribute to Madge: a neighbour and close friend of mine now of 13 years standing, who is also a brilliant, highly principled and a truly altruistically committed individual and a markedly conscionably active community activist of the highest order in her mid eighties.

 

Consummately fit, amazingly agile and most outstandingly healthy for her years Madge, who is always positively on the go, literally outdoes in virtually every department that is rationally worth considering many of both sexes who are several decades younger than she is and does so transparently both in physique as well as in relation to their customary sedentary lifestyle and pursuits, and in comparison to them is as a graceful swan in contrast to their statuses as uncoordinated and lumbering hippopotamuses.

 

Furthermore, Madge is additionally a committed, profoundly involved and an ongoing active benefactor to all manner of birds in her locality whom she willingly and voluntarily provides for out of her personal income with everything from suitable bird housing that she locates in the neighbouring trees which form the backdrop to her home, to the regular supplies of very nourishing food and water supplied to them throughout the year, and in the latter’s case not only for drinking purposes but also to enable them to happily indulge themselves in bathing with during the warmer weather.

 

A similar all round attention that Madge assiduously pays to any number of stray cats that depend on her boundless generosity for their daily care and wellbeing. And it’s indeed very touching and inspirational to observe the close bonding relationship that she has with these diverse animals and how very much they absolutely trust, appreciate and intimately interact with her, yet at the same time retaining their non-domesticated status.

 

Consequently, in my estimation and by any objective definition of the term, this remarkable octogenarian female is not only one outstanding sociable and humanitarian lady but also, and without any doubt in my mind, a truly phenomenal human being.