Tag: grief

Bystander

Dare I confess
the hollowness
of my heart

How emptiness
echoes in its chambers
How lost I feel inside

This is no sanctity
no secure refuge
my withdrawal is a sham

I stand by, observe –
circles entwine, embrace –
recognize the power of love

Practice the words
extend warmth
and retreat, before

connection ignites
convinced as I am
that the vacancy is merited.

(Image from personal collection.)

Empty Vessels

We’ll buy a boat,
he promised,
spend our days adrift
on a sea of possibilities.

So, she waited,
tethered her hopes
with ropes of whimsy
to a future with sails.

But years passed and
time revealed that words
hold no water, and lies
are no vessel for love.

Now, she contemplates
oceans, photographs
sailboats, docked –
possibilities set aside.

 

He’s Gone

In darkened room
I lie, willing blackness
to obliterate blackness.

A scream, unearthed
from dankness
shatters the silence,
echoes off heartless walls,

shock waves reverberate
relentless torment

seventeen years…
committed, no…
dedicated

ripped away

leaving me

nothing

I fall, spiral
reel out of control

breaking down

tomorrow,
the children will return
the house will fill again,
and I will pick up
these shards,
piece together
some semblance
of normalcy,
and begin
to rebuild

in the dark.

(Written for dVerse pub, where Lillian is hosting with a challenge to focus on time:  “To everything there is a season…”)

 

Unwanted

Like a wanted woman,
I hide in public places

One step ahead of recognition,
ignoring friendly gestures,
leaving confusion in my wake

I’m tired of this game,
the pretence – long only
to turn myself in

tear away the mask
and announce
my presence

but I’m afraid –
could lose it all –
career, reputation

all for a crime I did not commit.

Oh wait…I already did –
just like a wanted woman…

(Image from personal collection.  My images, some with poetry are now available through Society6.  I’d love it if you’d check us out and leave feedback.)

Closed Off

I search for sustenance
with indifference –
have difficulty navigating
the aisles of available options.

Divorced from former dreams,
I hunger for renewed inspiration,
encounter only loss and confusion.

Goddess advises, and I,
ear-closed irritated,
hear only assertions
of inadequacy.

I exit possibility,
have lost the vessel
that once propelled me.

(Linking up to Reena’s Exploration Challenge #70)

Heart Bleeding

Even lamplight cannot penetrate
the obliteration of blizzard white –
the icy absence between us.

Red was the colour of our passion,
now red is the colour of this box
words spoken in confinement

condensation blurring sensibility –
the muffled sound of ringing,
too cold, too frozen in disbelief

to hang up,
move on,
seek warmth.

(Inspired by the image supplied by Willow Poetry for her weekly challenge: What Do You See?)