Loss / Possession

 

I recall him:

handsome, saturnine aristocrat,

humourless brother of 

The Laughing Cavalier

on my mother's

wall ... fancy hat 

with swirling brim,

deep green coat.

Long lost now –

after she died,

all her property

dispersed or abandoned.

I remember too,

later, a card:

the Green Woman

wrinkled and wise.

A student begged 

to borrow, copy. 

I was reluctant; 

she promised return.

She never did. 

She moved  away, 

leaving no address…

Remembering, I see 

again, or still, 

that image of 

nut-brown, smiling face

kindly, knowing eyes. 

These decades later,

their clear features

revive: never truly

lost or stolen.

For Friday Writings #159: Making It New, at Poets and Storytellers United: a remix (or perhaps more of a revision) of an earlier version also written for P&SU. This one began as an erasure, then I rearranged it slightly in places for more coherence, and altered some words. It settled into three-word lines and four-line verses.

Not that I was unhappy with the original; this was just done for the purpose of the exercise. I actually like both versions and I'm not sure either is 'better', just different. However, such paring down can sometimes save a piece that isn't working. In poetry, often 'less is more'.