I Remember

That day we strolled riverside
Wild poppies in full bloom
guiding us

The reassurance you needed
stuck on my tongue –
age and language separating us

We walked in silence –
a regret I carry

Now the poppies remind me
that you were less than naive
that life had wounded you
and that what I had to offer
was so much more than
a voiceless presence

But I was afraid too
And I let you go

My heart bleeds
the colour of poppies
My breath catching
every time I remember

That day
when the river guided us
and the poppies bloomed
and I failed to listen.

(Dedicated to my dear Alina, who had to be brave at a vulnerable time, and whom I miss dearly. Image my own.)

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VJ

Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

46 thoughts on “I Remember”

    1. Thank you. I tried to visit your site but get a message that it doesn’t exist. Likely a glitch you might want to check out.

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  6. So tender and compassionate in conscious regret, VJ. Lovely! A beautiful tribute that in my mind includes you in relationship. Sometimes it is only in looking back that we see.

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  7. Such a poignant poem. I have such regrets too, VJ, and these are difficult to reconcile. I hope you will find a way to make peace with yourself about it. A public admission of something we are not proud of in ourselves is brave, and perhaps writing this poem is a start. I’m sending a big hug to you.

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  18. I can feel the heaviness you carry in your heart through the words in this poem…voiceless presence…my breath catching. Makes me think of times I’d like to rewind the tape and have a chance to redo.

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