judy-bell

judith ann copeland (june 30, 1940
- may 30, 2021)


you were born
as a sea-foam goddess
riding on
a happy gust of wind

who could look at you
without dreaming
of wildflowers &
sunrise?

your smile
was as pure
as the god-given
sky

an earthly angel
you were,
white-winged
among us

& a princess
of kindness
with gentle
hands

you knew
the sexiness
of a woman’s
touch

you mastered
the wink
of an eye,
& artfully
bending down
to tie a shoe

you had
the intelligence
of a sage
as a teacher
of children,
as a lover
as a wife

you married
a prince
in the form
of a huggy-bear
who will love you
forever
as his judy-tinker-
bell

you lived
together
in a basalt-walled
castle & you
travelled the world
in a grand coach
drawn by
jaguars

your kingdom
was wider than
the horizon
& included
the soft-white realm
of the moon

the past-tense
will never fit you
as you set out
for the kingdom
of your
great bear

if everything
seems to change,
true love
never will

& your romance
will soar
beyond the stars