Rachel Sutcliffe, formerly of Harrowgate, North Yorkshire, was a talented haiku poet who is much missed in the international haiku community. For almost a decade, she and I workshopped our creative fiction and poetry on several online forums and since her death from lupus in 2019, I have been in regular contact with her mother, Marie.
When I learned that Marie was to visit Ireland in August, we arranged to meet up in Belfast. I was surprised and delighted when she gifted me a set of writers’ pencils and the charm in the photo above that had belonged to Rachel. We found we had lots to talk about and ended up spending several hours together that day. The tanka below, published and translated into Chinese by the poet Chen-ou Liu, was inspired by our meeting.
seaviewwarrenpoint 
Thank you Marion. It was lovely to meet and hopefully we will do it again. Xx
Indeed we must, Marie! x
marion
Will always miss Rachel, I followed her blog as she did mine, we would comment on each other’s work. Om Shanti 🙏🏽
Yes, Rachel will always be missed, Madhuri. Thank you for dropping by, 🙂
marion
Truly charmed! How good & generous people influence and are always remembered. May dear Rachel’s soul rest in eternal peace. Thanks for sharing your meeting with her mother dear Marion. The tanka is lovely!
Yes, indeed, Neena. Thanks so much
marion.
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