A timely poem from Margaret Mahy

Ghosts by Margaret Mahy

Two ghosts are walking out today
and one I cannot see
The ghost of what I was before
and what I am to be

The ghost of what I was before
is still a friend to me
the other ghost, the one I fear
is what I am to be

If I could draw the veil aside
perhaps then I could see
the face of this
the stranger ghost
the one I am to be

yet I am blessed
in this I feel
the future's hid from me
and I must wait to meet the ghost
of what I am to be.

There are two ghosts abroad today
and one I cannot see
the first a wraith of what I was
the other is to be.

From page 142 of The Word Witch. I have posted this without Harper Collins permission but it does seem so timely. I will seek their permission by way of this posting.

Thanks to John McIntyre of The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnire for reminding me about the poem.

And a wonderful response:
Luce Caboose has left a new comment on your post "A timely poem from Margaret Mahy":

I deeply enjoyed that poem - thank you for posting it. I've also heard tales from a fellow lover of limericks, who worked and shared a rhyme or two with Margaret on the production of Kaitangata Twitch, that she too enjoyed a limerick. So on hearing of her passing I thought it only right to come up with one last limerick (of a PG-rated nature I might add) for a lovely lady:

'For a woman who loved a good rhyme,
and had an incredible penchant for wine,
with your wonderful books,
and a few devilish looks,
we'll toast to a woman most fine!'