(Dedicated to the memory of Lizaveta of Seppala 2 November 2002 — 11 August 2018)
Do not die, Lizzy!
Of course. You have died already.
Silly me.
Yet I must depend upon you.
What I mean to say is, don't do it again:
Do not disappear.
Of course, if I die,
As in due course I shall,
That will put you at risk,
Since none recalls you quite so well as I.
And of course there is Tonya to consider:
She has onerous responsibilities,
Quite apart from you and me,
Until the whole thing shall have run its course,
As one day to a certainty it must.
Neither of us would wish to complicate her duties
Nor to augment the burden that she bears.
The best course to be taken, then...
A question of survival...
And for how long...
It is difficult.
— J. Jeffrey Bragg (23 January 2020)
