Sunday, May 15, 2016

May 15, 2016 The Sunday Whirl Wordle #251/Memories of the Last Time -- Sunday's Whirligig #59/The Neighborhood - Poets United

Memories of the Last Time

       today you would be fishing          dressed in white

to avoid certain burn            the sun already high in the sky

summer is here at last           last time/last meal/last words spoken

the flowers limp withered              where you left them

         hung a wreath on the door       to say you would not be coming back

the bay house      already a memory/already fading       my life through a screen

a little boy runs laughing                   a small black dog at his heels

           you arrive          pause to take a breath            straighten your shoulders

what is more/what is less      cover the mirror in the hall             with black cloth

                                                                                    one last look

            old friends together                    we walk through the empty house

                                     so many memories

                                                                                   so many years

we both raised children in this house                     today i leave it for the last time

May 15, 2016

_____________________________________________________________________

The Neighborhood

       the sky is clear
the morning quiet
bewildered by the silence
of early morning
most still sleeping

        evangelists
silver tongued charlatans
dressed in their worsteds
bane of my youth
cunning with their words
church on sunday nights
put on a show
wrestle with the devil
you know
pass the plate

        all the while the moon
waxing and waning
paying no attention at all
the world i was born into
was a different world
a simple world
small town
it is touching to remember

         kids playing baseball until dark
outside at night
lightening bugs
hide and seek
the slam of the screen door
red rover
folks on the porch swing
saying howdy to the neighbors

          my childhood was blessed
angels were among us
the memory seems a far-away place
most of the characters have left the stage
things are different now

May 14, 2016



12 comments:

Jae Rose said...

Each piece conveys the sense of loss and difference - irreplaceable and aching - the ceremony of saying goodbye to the house was both sad and 'real' more so than empty morning worship perhaps..i hope the boy in some way remains young and happy with his dog at his heels..how very sad to leave him but how wonderful that for a short a time he knew happiness - and gives happiness too

brudberg said...

I think both pieces are part of the same sentiment, a sense of being left... coping, surviving, leaving and staying at the same time.. I especially loved the last piece and the silver-tongued charlatans.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I can see it so clearly, the man out fishing, the laughing little boy, the person coming to the door with the news.......and then the poignancy and sadness of walking through one's old home one last time. Heartbreaking, life can be. But so many beautiful memories too. And in the second poem, I so resonate with that nostalgia for childhood, which was a simpler, more innocent time............such beautiful writing, Annell. I loved reading both of these fine poems.

Donna@LivingFromHappiness said...

Oh the heartfelt sadness of leaving a space....memories held there are gone from us as they fade with time.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Beautifully poignant..!!

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Such beautiful nostalgia in both pieces. You get straight to my heart!

Mary said...

Leaving a house for the last time---you have captured the sadness of that so very well. Walking through it & knowing you will never see it again is so very hard. Poignant writing, Annell.

Old Egg said...

The sadness is palpable in both poems. That you have experienced such a love is a reward in itself making your life worthwhile.

Anonymous said...

Tremendous writing, my friend. The ache of acceptance can be found in your words,

Elizabeth

Susan said...

In"The Neighborhood" it is as if the charlatans replaced the children and chased away the innocence. And much has changed that used to be joyous--it is not just us growing older.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

"things are different now"

And, paradoxically, since now is all we have, then things are always different. Always. It is a concept difficult to grasp. Sometimes I tire of trying...

Puff Of Smoke Poems said...

Beautiful and sad. I loved reading how differently we all use the same words from Sunday Whirl.

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