Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wednesday June 15, 2011 We Write Poems/ Poets Asides / Poets United

Thank you so much Sherry for the interview at Poets United. I hope you will take a look!
poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2011/06/life-of-poet-annell-livingston.html?showComment=1308151810159#c8307580017934397655






Image from the internet. Life and Ties of Mother Andrea.jpg
We Write Poems
Poets Asides
Writer's Island

This morning I got this email from Kathleen:

My Mom passed away peaceful today at 2:00.

She read her mail one last time, ate a good lunch,
had a homemade cookie and went to sleep...
As always, she did it her way......

I spoke with her last nite, She knew I was
to leave next week to see her. She thought
that was great.
Her last words to me were, I miss you, I love you,
and they were my words too.

I will leave on thur. and probably be gone
for about a week.

Love....
Kathleen




Afterward
The guests are gone
The house is quiet
It shivers
Footsteps echo
The shadow behind each chair
Whispers unintelligent pleadings
Breathable air seeps out

The body coils into a ball
Hard and unyielding
Unable to extend to it's full length
Soft kitties offer themselves
The mind screams
You are gone
In the first day of loneliness
Your going away day

You were incomparable
You were one among many
You were my own
Your breath was mine
Your breast was mine
I look into your eyes
I see my own soul
The soul that is mine

Your were my rock
My touchstone
Your chores are all done
Given all that you had
Yet the all of you
Remains in my heart
I call you Mother

*Yesterday my friend Kathleen's Mother, Julia Brennan, 1921-2011, went away. She died. After a long and full life. I never met her, but each time I saw Kathleen at her studio, I saw the pictures of her Mother. She shared her love of her Mother with me, I felt I knew her. She expressed a life well lived. Kathleen talked to her Mother just last night, with" I miss you, I love you," she said goodbye.

7 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Annell, this is one of the most beautiful poems - and testimonies about a wonderful life - that I have ever read. Truly beautiful and so moving. "Your chores are all done." And "the all of you remains in my heart". Kathleen will treasure these words. Such a loving tribute.

Brian Miller said...

it is a beautiful poem...and i am sorry for your friends loss...losing ones mother is not an easy thing...

flaubert said...

A loving tribute, Annell. A wonderful poem.

Pamela

Elizabeth said...

Such tenderness you create here Annell. What a beautiful tribute to your friend's relationship and I am sorry for her loss. It is one of the most difficult ones we must experience,

Elizabeth

Mary said...

i can only imagine how touched your friend must be by this poem that you wrote about the death of her mother. It is interesting that she told her mother she missed her, loved her just the night before. I remember that the night before my mother died she must have had some kind of premonition as she talked to about 6 people that night..relatives and friends; and the next morning she died.

And yes, it was a wonderful article about you at Poets United!

Peggy said...

What a loving tribute for your friend's mother. Surprising that you never met her, from your poem I thought she maybe was a sister or your own mother.

I also very much enjoyed the interview on Poets United. I am especially curious about the artist books projects. As a painter as well as a poet myself the idea has always appealed to me.

gautami tripathy said...

This is very touching. Full of feelings. Wonderful tribute!

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