Dear Sarah Jane,
I wanted to be you.
I wanted your slim form,
your long dark hair
wide eyes and pretty mouth.
I wanted to be
just your age
at just that time
in a London that was still,
I imagined, a little bit swinging
and then to go
adventuring
into all kinds of times,
all sorts of spaces, with all four
of the most charming Doctors.
Above all I wanted
your bravery
when you climbed
that high wire lattice
leading people to freedom.
Sarah Jane,
you are my hero.
I loved Rose and Leela,
wonderful Donna, and Wilfrid;
liked Martha and Ace, Jo and the Brigadier
and of course
I always adored
dashing Captain Jack.
Amy, I see, in her own way,
is as brave, smart, and good as you —
but there’s no more you,
dear Sarah Jane, who crept
so easily into our hearts
and now will never return
ageing brilliantly, for more story.
Sarah Jane,
I wanted to be you.
I don’t want to be and I’m not
dead at 63, like the actress
who played you.... Oh loss! Oh sad reality!
RIP Elisabeth Sladen, d.19 April 2011.
Day 18 - The person that you wish you could be
Published in HAVE YOUR CHILL, July 2018
this is so very interesting. great write.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteSarah Jane was many people's favourite Dr Who companion of all time — particularly those of us who are old enough to have tuned in from the beginning. And, obviously, my favourite too. And I think she had a whole lot of new fans in recent times because of her own series The Sarah Jane Adventures — unfortunately not shown in Australia.
It was a terrible shock to learn that the actress Elisabeth Sladen, who brought her to life so beautifully, had died so young (of cancer).