Midsummer's Day

[smokingboot]

He was unconscious but seemed more serene today, they had turned his bed diagonally towards the garden, right next to the French windows which were gently open. The breeze was sweet, the air was full of flowers. He didn't seem to notice but if he opened his eyes and this was the last thing he saw, it would be a lovely view.

Tried to read him poetry. Started with Kubla Khan cos he likes it, moved on to Wordsworth, then - possibly a stumble - Sailing to Byzantium, because it's about Yeats' mystical journey, and Yeats, like Mark, was a member of the Golden Dawn. But it does mention dying. He made a sound at the end of the poem. Maybe he wanted to make a point about Yeats, or maybe he was saying, 'Something more cheerful, you idiot!' So I moved on to Milton's L'Allegro, without Il Pensoroso. A little Blake turned up, and I thought the sweetness of the Songs of Innocence would work, but it took me reading them again to recall the slight bite to their edge. Chaucer was a question...but he reads Chaucer extremely well, and hearing me stumble over the original might convince him that he's woken in some particularly dim part of purgatory. Then, because her mighty powers of karmic interference don't extend to checking the visitor's book, in walked Daft Bint. Dismay gave way to our duties as friends, and we put aside our differences to behave like decent people. It was awkward for us, but nothing really in the context of our friend's life and death. After a while I left, and on leaving, realised I had forgotten Tennyson. So I will remedy that today, if it is still appropriate.

The nurses are very kind.

Edited to add; Turns out that, according to his sister, reading Yeats was what drew him to the Golden Dawn in the first place, so chances are 'Sailing to Byzantium' got a response of approval rather than disdain. That pleases me.

larians took me to see Mad Max. I loved it! And having spoken to family in Oz, while the Guillain-Barre situation seems under control, looks like we'll be going out there in early 2016, a little break in Sydney to jolly things. Might delay travels to Botswana, but we need to sort a good time of year to go there anyway - it was never going to be directly after the wedding.