Saturday, February 28, 2015

The Sunday Whirl/The Silence Afterwards/ deVerse -- Poets United

The Silence Afterwards


my body wrapped in flesh         with empty veins        on the table is food

the wind howls at my window        circles my house         through the night

your ghost comes to me in a dream                 in the form of a little lamb

i reach to stroke your soft coat      it has turned to granite      just as my heart

has turned hard and cold         a stone in snow             i search the names listed

the weight of your loss                 is far greater than i could have imagined

in the final days the words i told myself              were true but empty now

                                                                                     ...in the silence afterwards

February 28, 2015


     

26 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I can feel the loss and emptiness in this....the soft wool of the sheep turning to granite......so sorrowful. The heart does form a protective layer, when it has been dealt such a blow. The element of the wind howling at the window....and the silence afterwards....I can feel it.

Plum said...

"my body wrapped in flesh"

My goodness. What a way to open a poem! And then the image of your body wrapped in someone else's flesh, splayed across the table. This is either getting scary or spicy.

Having read a lot about veganism lately, this also makes me think of a person taking to heart what's being done to animals so that she can eat meat.

Susmit said...

A very thought provoking one! The fine prints simply cut through the heart.

Brian Miller said...

so hard to face that after...
i am glad that you are still visited by him
the form of a lamb...what symbolism...

i know your days are hard annell...

Marina Sofia said...

Soft coat turned to granite, a heart that's a stone in a snow... this is really sad, heavy, moving...

brudberg said...

The lamb's soft pelt turned to granite.. what a strong and sad image... and those cold winds... really loss can be so hard to live with.

author.nara.malone said...

Grief fills poetry with such strong imagery. It's the way out, letting the words be your path to finding peace.

Delaina said...

Your images and voice are so powerful in this poem I think I will feel its affects for quite some time. Cheers!

Old Egg said...

Somehow with such a deep loss you have to ensure that you have taken your loved one inside you so they will always be with you. In this way they will be in your presence as I am sure your are in theirs. Listen you might hear their laugh or a whisper in your ear...you heard it once; they are with you always.

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

So very sorry--this feels so personal and so real--

Unknown said...

I definitely believe in otherworldly presence... I feel the deep loss in this write...

Anonymous said...

a ghost that's a little lamb, just that is sad. the rest is gut wrenching.

in state, faithful lying

Jae Rose said...

Silence is even louder and more uncomfortable when we know the voice we are missing...i think that little lamb can still be soft...xo

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

The image of the lamb's coat turning to granite is startling, to say the least.

Whirling for Good or Ill

Susan said...

Everything about food and warmth has changed in the face of loss in this poem. I can feel it, hoiw hard it is.

Donna@LivingFromHappiness said...

Oh such pain and loss I felt in these words....that silence is like a knife stabbing...

Mary said...

Yes, sometimes there is silence in truth.... depthful writing, Annell.

brudberg said...

Your link at Poetry United seems not to be working. .-)

C.C. said...

Sometimes silence after loss can render words, albeit even true words, suddenly empty to us. Sad observation but so wonderfully captured.

Anonymous said...

I salute your courage and honesty in this beautifully woven portrait of grief. We would much prefer to write of softer and gentler things, but that wouldn't be real, now would it? Hugs to you from here, my friend,

Elizabeth

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

You completely caught me up in it!

Sumana Roy said...

as i read the poem i deeply feel that your words describe me suffering the same loss...ah i could feel that heart, cold, hard and that deafening silence...

Unknown said...

heart stopping feeling of loss ... a strong image.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Sometimes the silence is the hardest thing to bear, makes the sense of loss greater.
My thoughts are with you.
Anna

Gen Giggles said...

This was so moving for me.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Yet another moving, evocative piece that draws one right in.

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