Tag Archives: loss

Reverie

I am content in the sunlight
a thousand blank pages waiting
but without any cause to fight,
for my attention. Not needing;
necessity is self-defeating;
but there- available all the same.
The time left us is only wanting,
this life having finally been tamed.

The day drifts away but it is still bright,
a lifetime of mournful shadows fading
behind a long legacy of delight;
decades of fruitful creating,
the love of those that are liberating,
curiosity like an open flame
from fire to fire, always leaping.
Never quiet is my soul’s refrain.

Leaning in the Corner at a Dance Recital

I’m not sure now why it didn’t break,
beneath the days – turned years – turned decades,
beneath three children, four grandkids,
beneath a 50 year marriage that almost ended twice,
beneath two tours in foreign nations,
beneath coffins filled with pieces of his heart,
peppered here and there while he lived on.

Beneath countless bouts with viruses,
an embarrassing number of hangovers,
and one exchange with polio.
Beneath all the nameless failures;
the guilt, regrets and losses.
Beneath all the great successes;
the pride and the accomplishments.

Beneath every memory whether faded or strong,
it held…
he leaned on his cane to watch another memory made
                                                                  …it did not break;
and for a moment he even looked rested.

Jerricho

Seven times the trumpet sounds
seven times around
and with that
what was pillaged from the earth
is reunited,
a victory born of loss –
to herald a loss
forged in victory.

Shattered stone
cast like die
looking for lucky numbers,
while the whole world waits
silent and still
for revelation
the stars beyond run from one another
terrified to confront
any semblance of themselves.

Shadow Waltz

She was there
then suddenly she wasn’t
taking with her the very air.

She was gone
but my thoughts remained with her
I, the pale-less well ne’er drawn

She is dead
I too have died within her
as well the words never said

I was known
defined by the external
words not spoken but intoned

I was lost
words that were read absently
will the active mind exhaust

I am dead
I, a string tied inside her
found a severed broken thread

Together
set adrift in the abyss
ever lost to the nether.

Remorse

               Opportunity
often speaks in riddles
               an anxious precipice
                              tumbled stones
                                             climbing wind

a sunlit valley could be a city
               a city could be leveled
                              the years gathering together
                                             to rebuild the valley that was
               opportunity

is the vision beyond sight
               a world of dreams
                              expressed in folds
                                             so close to finding
               opportunity

will find broken things and fix them
               or break the things that are better broken
                              not resigned to decide
                                             that responsibility rests on you
               opportunity

passes quietly like a loved one
               not seen in years
                              love kept safe in the closet
                                             in a box unopened
               until they are gone