Our Old Girl… Remembering Coral

Gold cherry
Poem of the week

By Turlough

Mon, 11 Aug 2025
  • 1356 reads
20 comments
 

 

Our Old Girl… Remembering Coral

 

My oldest new friend

My newest old friend

Purple-haired punk

Poet and painter

Lady writer

Of words so wickedly wise

 

Deep breath taken

I read her thoughts

Digits tapping screens

A continent apart

Moans, groans and typos

(Her words, not mine)

Of painful toes

Of weather too hot

Or cold

Of waiting for buses

Of waiting for doctors

And the rest

Of creaking doors

And creaking bones

Of the hand she’d been dealt

Of the darkest of times

And what to do

If I was you

 

The mother

Of my siren, our girl

Of a son lost, so young

Of a daughter, her miracle

From a mind torn apart

In sorrow she spills

Onto canvas and page

Her love for them all

Her anger, her grief

The kindest of hearts

Seared and scarred

By anguish and pain

 

Lines in a letter

Cryptic and caustic

Camouflage compassion

And charitable trust

That dance in depths

Where humour lurks

Mischievous smiles pounce

Chasing me to opposite ends

Of her rainbow

From where she screams

She feels so old

Yet feels so young

 

Shrouded by the fog

Back home on the Tyne

At peace in the mist

She’ll be eternally missed

No stranger love in my life

Than for our old girl

 

Sitting in a seaside snack bar

Sam Fender singing favourite songs

Thoughts wandering to Brighton

I see a woman on the seashore

The very place she belongs

 

Image:

Coral… my own photograph taken in March 2025.

Certificate U
Poem
Poetry in Commotion
Love
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

She certainly seemed to have been very pleased to meet you. My first contact here on the site with her was when one of my very early pieces I posted was 'Seashore' for kids, and she made a nice comment! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Aye, she was a remarkable person and incredibly kind.

Turlough

Submitted by Di_Hard on

she sounds so rich, warm, brave

 

Submitted by Turlough on

She was Di. All of those things, and more.

Thank you for the cherries.

Turlough

Submitted by Ewan on

  A moving tribute to one of our own, now sadly gone. Do please share on your own Social Media.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Turlough on

Many thanks Ewan.

Turlough

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

A beautiful and very moving tribute Turlough - very well deserved golden cherries for a golden muse.

She was a slightly lighter pink when we met but they both look stunning!

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Thank you very much IPFN. 

I blotted out some of the background in the photograph so that's darkened her hair a bit. Though it was more purple than pink that day.

Turlough

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Turlough,

when fate brings people together, it's for a reason. I'm confident Coral would be touched by your accomplished poem, which was lovingly written.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Thank you very much Jenny. 

Turlough

Submitted by marandina on

I remember reading seashore's stuff when I returned to the site in 2020. It was visceral, honest and striking. It certainly made me sit up and take notice. I imagine she was a one-off. Coral made quite a mark during her lifetime. 

A moving tribute for sure. 

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Thank you Paul.

Each time of reading one of Coral's poems I discover something new in it. Her writing is very deep, as was her personality. I could never match her standard but she definately made me take a second look at my own writing and search for ways to improve it,

She certainly was a one off... a special person altogether.

Turlough

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This is our Poem of the Week - congratulations!

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Lump in throat time.

Thank you very very much.

Turlough

Submitted by ScoZen on

I'm always dipping into her book "...Waiting for Another Velvet Morning..."

This always brings tears to my eyes when I read  '...Quote from Julia ( age 6 ) on the arrival of her long-awaited baby sister Sarah ( the name she was allowed to choose herself )

"...The nicest word I know is sister..."

ScoZen

Submitted by Turlough on

I know, that quote always gets to me too.

Sarah's sister Julia was one of the nicest people I knew... so long ago. But Coral and Sarah have shared that personality in many, many ways. They're a lovely family.

Turlough

Submitted by Mark Say on

Well done Turlough.

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Many thanks to you Mark.

Turlough

Submitted by Mark Say on

Well done Turlough.

 

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

This was splendid, Turlough. Well deserved honors. 

Rich