I sit down across from them
meet his melancholy eyes,
give him a sad smile, whisper
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
He nods, glancing longingly at his wife
before I remember,
he’s the one
who’s gone.
.
.
(RIP Rob. Thanks for the dream visit).
poem- This Valentine’s heart February 18, 2021
Plugged.
Beats stop.
He drops.
Brain dies.
One heart broken
So many hearts grieve.
A Valentine’s Day massacre of our joy.
.
.
RIP Rob
poem-After the fatal accident January 11, 2021
There is your name
on the attendance list.
Absent: excused
Parents called in.
Poem- choking December 1, 2020
Tonight amid the Christmas decorations
grief is hanging on our tree;
loss pummels
hopefulness.
Sadness hollows out my chest,
crushes my shoulders,
lodges in my throat.
Longing overwhelms.
There is no comfort
here, only more memories
of what is gone
who is gone
when is gone
where is gone.
Tonight is too much to bear,
so I’ll climb into bed and
trust tomorrow brings
solace and that much lauded
peace of the season.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
poem- we turned on the Christmas lights November 22, 2020
The dog stares mesmerized
past the old bulbs wrapped around the blue spruce, those steady, dependable glass bulbs that have illuminated twenty Christmases,
to the lilac bushes where the new micro-bulbs change from white to colour, fade, flash, flicker, urge us to celebrate with their “Party on!” dance,
but this year, putting them out
used all the energy we have,
and there’s no irony in the number of blue bulb strings wrapped and draped around the door.
poem- leaving the keys for the new owners October 15, 2020
The house echoes.
Drapes she made hang on the windows,
the last pieces of her here,
except
the lingering scent of bread baked
months ago, as
her last messages of appreciation,
her last independent acts.
poem-Emptying my mother’s house September 7, 2020
I tell myself,
In the process of creation,
her art fulfilled its purpose.
If the family has chosen what to keep
Freeing the rest to the universe
is just extending its mandate
not a betrayal to her
memory.
poem-siren call September 3, 2020
It used to be
a howling ambulance
made me hold my breath
waiting to hear if it flew to you.
Now you’re past their aid,
so I send a blessing
to the stranger in need
and into the sky in memory
of you
poem- Father’s Day June 21, 2020
My father’s ashes are beside me. Once
Every day was Father’s Day,
Now every day he’s absent,
But every day he’s here.
Love never dies.
Devotion binds fond memories;
so long as we remember him,
it’s always Father’s Day.
poem-grey June 8, 2020
The first day
my mother did not see
dawned grey and heavy
with dew.
But still the finch greeted me
with its joy at waking to
the new.
Shawn L. Bird 