The form this poem takes is three sestets in iambic tetrameter. THAT I can do. But the theme? Oy ... I tried mightily, I really did. I wrestled with poems on teachers and refugees, as well as one on sisters. Nothing really worked. However, a theme that's been on my mind lately kept coming back, so I had to go where the poem took me. This one is untitled.
She climbs this hill awash in grief
the weight of loss so sharp, so new
most days she cries in disbelief
does all she can to make it through
the minutes, hours, moments brief
when all her thoughts have turned to you.
Such little things bring laughs and tears
some photos, medals, written notes
the story of your too few years
compiled among these anecdotes
she’d trade them all, these souvenirs
to wrap you up and hold you close.
But now she holds you in her heart
remembers you and all you loved
with joy a bitter counterpart
to grief that comes in waves and floods.
There is no map for how to start
your life without your most beloved.
Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2017. All rights reserved.
You can read the poems written by my poetry sisters at the links below. Andi may not be poem-ing right now, but she's still in our hearts and keeping up with us as time allows.
I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Carol at Beyond Literacy Link. Happy poetry Friday friends.
Gulp.....I'm going to a funeral today ....and those last two lines...that's it right there. No map for how to start your life without your most beloved. Beautiful and true and ouch.
ReplyDeleteWell done.
I attended a funeral shortly after hitting publish on this one, and you're right, it's the last two lines that speak volumes. As I watch people in grief navigate these waters, there's no sure path, no direction on how to do it.
DeleteTricia, I didn't get to answer your email, but...I'm not sure I could have, anyway. This had to just sit with me awhile. I read it on the one year anniversary of my mom's death. But my mom lived a long, good life. So her death is hard for me, but not a tragedy, you know? But this stabs me in the heart of the grief my dad still faces daily, and also my several friends who have lost family members much too young.
ReplyDeleteThese lines
she’d trade them all, these souvenirs
to wrap you up and hold you close.
bring me to my knees each time I read them.
It says all, Tricia. I appreciate that you decided to offer this beautiful description of those times in life that are up and down daily with joy and sorrow.
ReplyDeleteI always marvel at the way words refract meaning, as light refracts and, depending on where one stands or where one looks, takes on many hues and textures. You came from this poem from a direction we don't see, and here in replies we have entirely new things we're seeing - all of them heartfelt and beautiful, and, ultimately, healing.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
"The little things bring joy and tears
Deletethe photos, medals, written notes
the story of your too few years
compiled among these anecdotes"
This, exactly. *tears*
This poem is beautiful and lovely and somehow perfect.
ReplyDeleteTricia, I have be filled with the sadness of a close friend whose life was cut short by terminal illness and has passed into the night. Coming home from the wake these past two days and facing the funeral tomorrow is difficult. I would like to show your poem to his wife and two daughters because it is beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteWow--this so beautifully captures the grief after loss. Thanks for sharing your words.
ReplyDeleteMy father is facing a potentially terminal illness, and my mother and I have been preparing ourselves should the worst happen. The thought of my mother losing her partner of over 40 years breaks my heart, but no matter what happens, we will hold him forever in our heart.
ReplyDeleteOh Jane, I'm so sorry to hear this. We lost my father in 2009 and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him. I can't imagine what it's like for my mother who lost him just a few days before their 57th anniversary.
DeleteI'll be thinking of you and keeping you and your mom and dad in my prayers.
**tears**
ReplyDeleteOne of my former student's mother passed away suddenly earlier in the summer. My heart breaks for a father who is suddenly a single parent, and of course for the two kids who will have to navigate growing up without their mother.
Tricia, that's heartbreaking. Thanks for writing and sharing. STOHR-HUNT POWER!
ReplyDelete