Wednesday, November 23, 2016

November 23, 2016 Writer's Digest November PAD Challenge 2016 / When You Come Again -- Poets United Midweel Motif/ Stretching the Truth

When You Come Again

when you come again      or... will you come again          how long has it been

how many months           how many days                         hours/minutes/seconds

the emptiness stretches    expands like a rubber band       or...the land before me

which stretches to the horizon     and then i can see no more   except for the clear blue sky

still... i search the horizon      for the dust that rises          from your pony

i wait for your return     nothing happens in between        only the ticking of the clock



in years past            so many thanksgivings                       prepare the turkey

put it on early      tv on to watch the thanksgiving parade         so many people

crowd along the streets         balloons fly above                 sometimes cold

sometimes not           commentators chatter constantly       a relief when it is turned off

family and friends gather       glasses tinkle                         toasts are made

wishes exchanged          memories of other years                other thanksgivings



the old songs are played       on the phonograph                church bells ring in the valley

drums from the pueblo         fill the air                               cultures mix

cheery hellos               waved across the way                     the news offers little promises

i step through the looking glass      where all is new          clear/resolved

i reach under my shirt      place my hand on my breast       feel my heart still beating

it does not ease the longing         i wait for you                   will you come again

November 23, 2016

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Stretching the Truth

let's stretch the truth a little       it must have been a million years      since i saw you last

i remember a spring day            way back in ancient times                 in your bed

a cozy cocoon                             you yourself was not a larva             but seemed to be

just ready to become a butterfly           and you did                             flew away

out the window                         into the sunlight                             free from what held you

free from pain                           i alone                                                 watched you go

knew your destination               and now                                              you wait for me

still the river of time rushes       life doesn't stand                               still i try to keep up

try not to get stuck in the past    my thoughts face forward                yet sometimes

march backward                         with spyglass                                    they look for you


November 23, 2016          











7 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

At holiday times, especially, we remember other fuller gatherings. So many faces absent from the table now. We make do. But it doesn't stop the missing. Sigh.

I enjoyed the second poem, as well........that butterfly, who flew away too soon pings at my heart.

Susan said...

Both poems move me. But I sit with the second, "Stretching the Truth," and it hardly seems like an exageration. It's too exactly how I feel.

Rob Jackson said...

To me, When you come again brings together longing and the nostalgia of thanksgiving. It almost makes me think that you are not necassirly wondering if a person will return, but the next holiday (meaning we have survived another year). I'm probably totally off though.

Old Egg said...

Grief is a great muse, cruelly tempting us back in time to those days of love and togetherness and that touch just knowing they are there.

Mary said...

Both of these are so very poignant and powerful. Really moving writing, Annelle.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Such a beautifully moving write!

Sumana Roy said...

so very poignant...both poems.

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