Brief the while I knew her

 Brief, the while I knew her
Soft spoken on the couch
Full of hope the pair
A garden their delight.
I heard the news,
A silent bar ,the beer flat.
John was now alone,
First since he was twenty.
His birthday  last week,
Sixty years they say.
The church was full
‘And did those feet’ rang out,
The bow carried by us all.
Buried well in England's
Green and pleasant land,
The richer for her memory.