Since the death of the Queen, I, like many, have been taken aback at how sad I’ve felt about her passing. However, I should not be, for hers was a remarkable life and one rich in symbolism. The stories shared by millions show just how much people loved her. She gave us a gift for the decades - a canvas on which to project whatever we needed (for me - identity, pride, comfort - and that word again, constancy).

Any death reminds us that the only true constant in life is, of course, change. And we are changed, too, from the touch of each passing soul. So with hers, a most significant and affecting death - she leaves us another incredible gift - a prolonged moment in time together to reflect, be thankful and contemplate.

One of my teachers shared this beautiful poem this week, which I would love to share with you...

When Great Trees Fall, Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II.