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:
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
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.
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.
Oh the heartfelt sadness of leaving a space....memories held there are gone from us as they fade with time.
Beautifully poignant..!!
Such beautiful nostalgia in both pieces. You get straight to my heart!
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.
The sadness is palpable in both poems. That you have experienced such a love is a reward in itself making your life worthwhile.
Tremendous writing, my friend. The ache of acceptance can be found in your words,
Elizabeth
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.
"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...
Beautiful and sad. I loved reading how differently we all use the same words from Sunday Whirl.
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