A Day For Dawn

On a sunny May afternoon we gathered Dawn’s family, Old Alfredians, former and current staff, parents past and present in the Main Hall in memory of the warm, bright and compassionate woman whose impact as Head of KAS is a great legacy.

Guests were invited to share their stories and memories of how Dawn touched so many lives and our school . The beautiful portrait (pictured below) was a gift to Dawn’s family from our KAS Society President, Kara Conti and Robert unveiled a bench for future generations of Alfredians to enjoy on the field.

Head of Estates, Zah Rasul wrote this beautiful poem in Dawn’s memory:

ex corde vita

the philosopher advises us
to steel our sensibilities,
so that life will hurt as little as possible

the poet tells us the world
has no maps of real use,
we are all singing
dark hymns in an empty chapel

the geographer reminds us
that what we look for in the city
so too, will we find in the soul

and you, the biologist, taught us
that the left lung is smaller,
because of the space
taken up by the heart

the heart
with love at its beginning
and love at its end
love in the flowers
and in the blueness
of the sky before rain
love that caught so many
children’s hearts in your hands

your dying so young filled us with rage
but you seemed unmoved
still in love with the life you were losing
still championing the importance of
beauty over understanding

the romantic tells us that when
a good person dies
the skies will come down a little
the earth crack and open
mountains waver,

but they don’t do they Dawn?
the game goes on
a shifting from light to dark
back to light again

the body decays
but love stays

and the sadness

that they built us
not to last

semper in corde meo