We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

29.9.20

October arrives, and my thoughts turn to …

October arrives, and my thoughts turn to …

(Separate micro-poems about different people)



private cremation –

still seeing your thin body

in that old T-shirt


**********


October and it’s over

or always used to be –

re-living all those deaths

in early Spring. But now

this is the month Letitia died.


**********


A year since you died.

For good practical reasons, 

I change the names of 

the haiku and tanka groups 

we held together – and weep.



Sharing with Weekly Scribblings #39 at Poets and Storytellers United.

30 comments:

  1. Rosemary, sadness ebbs slowly, I am sorry for your loss. This shows through very well here, you formed and worded it perfectly for me. Many funerals are close to being private this year here because of the COVID-19. A former coworker friend of nine died in August and his daughter arranged for a private funeral, even keeping his obituary private.
    ..

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  2. What a powerful combination - they really convey the loss so vividly

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  3. October seems to be a month of loss for you, Rosemary. Not even the colours and scents can camouflage that. Heartfelt sympathy.

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  4. Very moving... very sad.. the loss of loved ones is crippling sometimes.

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  5. That is the problem with losing a partner beacuse a part of you dies as well and nothing is ever the same. I lost my wife back in 2010 and it still hurts.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, I know it well, dear Robin, having experienced the loss of my lovely husband only a little later, in 2012.

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  6. Your selection feels like it was written for our season, since it will soon be Halloween in the Northern Hemisphere. The imagery are strong and sad, heartbreaking in the case of the last one. I remember when you spoke of being updating those groups, I should've known that it wasn't the easiest of tasks.

    I really like the following three lines, particularly the last--so effective:

    I change the names of
    the haiku and tanka groups
    we held together – and weep.


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    Replies
    1. There was much sentiment, and history, attached to those names.

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  7. Burying my brother's Veteran ashes on friday. Your opening haiku hits home for sure. Thanks

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    1. Oh yes, that would hit home! Sending you loving thoughts for Friday.

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  8. I have my October ghosts too. Some years the veil feels more thin than others.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps this whole pandemic thing has had that effect.

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  9. Sadness and loss haunts your poems

    Happy Wednesday Rosemary

    Much💓love

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  10. They are beautiful. I can't say why, but "this is the month Letitia died" is my favorite line. Something so deeply sorrowful. Thank you for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Ah well, that's the most recent death – and the least expected. It was October last year, seems almost yesterday. (I said 'a year' in the last one, but it was actually a few months longer – only I couldn't scan that.) Thanks for your kind comment.

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  11. Thank you for sharing, Rosemary.

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  12. I feel the pain, the loss you describe. Catharsis helps, I believe .....

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    Replies
    1. It does, as much as anything can. Life goes on ... but not the same.

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  13. A moving triple stanza poem... A time of reflection - both happy and sad it is to remember... Hugs

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  14. Your poems are a reminder that sorrow touches everyone sooner or later. Nobody remains unscathed.

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    Replies
    1. And the older we get, the more of it there will be!

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  15. We reach the age of saying goodbye to dear ones. I share your expression of loss, and I weep with you, my friend. Your poetic vignettes are exquisite.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!
      Yes, it's the price of living long – and I hope to continue doing so despite the price.

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