In loving memory of Teresa Albuquerque
-Brian Mendonca
Remembering aunty today
on the day of her passing.
It seems she is still there,
smiling in her rocking chair.
Now I recall how at our table
we struggled to break the news to dad.
When we did, his eyes blazed.
He said nothing.
But something broke inside,
as he hobbled to his room.
Aunty was so much to us.
From welcoming Queenie to our family,
to raising the toast at our wedding
Her words ring true even now.
She encouraged me,
and inspired my writing.
She even came for a reading of my poems
on a gusty rainy day in Candolim.
Immaculately dressed,
always with 'Mat' her soul mate
she commanded attention
wherever she went.
A writer always has more to write
When beckoned in mid-sentence.
But a person's reach
should be beyond her grasp.
Ashes to ashes
You merge with the winds
Your soul lives on
Being shorn of the rind.
Let the showers
Offer solace
For a life well-lived,
Generous and gifted
Not insular or cribbed.
(Porvorim, Goa
12 June 2019)
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Teresa Albuquerque (1930-2017) passed on when the breezes were caring on 12 June. She is remembered for her several books on Goa and Mumbai. She resided at Shamrock, Santacruz West, Mumbai and often spent time in Goa researching and staying at her home in Anjuna.
Image courtesy: Albuquerque Villas, Candolim, Goa
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