loss – Page 4 – One Woman's Quest

A Mirage

Do not apologize
the fault lies not with you

Love, while lauded for its cures,
is not always compensation

for a life of turmoil –
I know you loved her

Watched as you let your dreams slide
heart wringing with your own sorrow

There was just something about her
men lined up to grasp… to make her

What? Theirs? Happy?
It was not to be

she barely possessed herself…
Even in death, I reach for her

try to define the ruse
but her essence is elusive

No, you are not at fault…
for she was never really there.

(For Reena’s Xploration Challenge, prompt the featured image.)

Exorcism Required

It was desire
led me here
buried me alive

Lust borrowed
from loneliness
his heart a tomb

Flesh from flesh
can be extracted
psyche requires exorcism.

(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)

Still, I Dream of You

Bound to this saudade –
the agony of knowing
I let you go, rejected
a love so pure –
the road has been long
pitted with heartache
you, my greatest regret.

(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter. Image my own.)

Equality

Two mothers were we
frozen in disbelief
as smoke rose

Cried for the losses
for our children
for a future devoid
of peace

Two mothers
hand-in-hand
shattered

A Christian
and a Muslim

War destroys all dreams.

(Image my own.)

Survival of an Artist

He had lost everything of value to him. There was an empty canvas on the easel, his colors and tools. What would he paint? *

Eyes reddened from tears
he bears his soul, like a wolf
howls into the emptiness

No response

Life shrinks at the sight of him
wounded creatures fearing
his motivations, advances

Entrapped

Escape alludes – walls
structures of his fear
he is his own obstacle

Alone

He will find his bearing
claw his way through faithlessness
Solitude, after all, an ally to his breed.

(For Reena’s Exploration challenge: *quotation captioned. Image my own.)

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.)

In The Moment

Euphoric, wrapped
in silent aftermath,
love’s vibration
still aglow

Push aside
the fear
the effort
it took
to get here

Bask in the moment –
tomorrow, I’ll cry.

First Love

We laid beneath the stars
our youth tingling, dared
to dream cosmic –
Thought I landed in love’s lap,
till summer waned and
you were gone, carried
by the wind, my heart
in your pocket.

(This poem appears in the VSS365 Anthology, untitled)

Fogged

But for the beating of heart –
a discordant rhythm –
I am obliterated by fog –
numbness of unanticipated loss
clouded by dreams misted over –
I await sun’s return….

Loss and Light

Absence fills the silence
with shadowy wings
becomes a raven
sharp-taloned,
razor-beaked
I cower

loss too
immense
for comprehension
would lay my body down
be consumed, but for
the children’e eyes pinning me
their woeful gazes,
begging to be uplifted
I am abandoned
and not
a flicker
called to be
beacon.

(Art from personal collection)