Kneeling aside my precious son,
A blessed child the age of three,
As he’s sprawled out on his bed;
Eyes flickering gently in sleep.
His obsidian hair is swept
Off of his smooth, cherubic face
And upon his porcelain forehead,
An affectionate kiss is placed.
That is when skeletal fingers
Rested upon my shoulder
And then Death himself exclaimed,
“Follow me; your life is over.”
Yanked to a standing position,
I turned to behold the master
Of Mortality and Shadows,
Yet my heart sped no faster.
Acceptance marred my will to fight,
But I tentatively inquired
As to if I could have one moment
To tell my baby goodbye.
The gleam off his scythe grew brighter
As tendrils of black magic swirled
And an hourglass stood by his side,
Counting down ‘till I part from this world.
With quivering limbs, I knelt once more
And murmured into my boy’s ear
All that a mother can divulge
Before her brief stay is over here.
“Hush, my darling; do not be swayed
To rise from whatever you dream.
But when you wake, please do not weep
For Mommy has got to leave.
I never got to see the world
Or be the person I wished to be,
So don’t be like Mommy and wait
‘Till you’re old to pursue your dreams.
Live now and do so joyfully,
And though Mommy can’t be with you,
I’ll be observing above
And in despair, I’ll pull you through.
Now I know you won’t remember
The one who held and rocked you to sleep,
But just know that Mommy loves you
And we’ll meet again; that promise I’ll keep.”
So with that last declaration,
I confidently approached Death.
He entwined his fingers with mine
And we left together like old friends.
Author notes
I just got to thinking one day about what I would tell my children (when I get older, of course) if I knew that I was going to die.
A contest entry
- Straight from the Heart by Ken-Maverick.
650 points, ended April 9, 26 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What do you think?
Comments
-
Beautifully sad. Deep emotion. Wondrous thought. Amazing poem. I love it!!
-
this was truly heart-wrenching. It was beautifully dark and hopeful all at the same time. just i don't even know it was so beautiful. great write.
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JUDGED!
This is very sad, it's never easy losing a loved one,
in this case more so.
Nice work here poet, all the best to you in the contest
Ken -
Wow, it is just amazing to think you can write this at the age of 14!
Even though my perspective of the poem is as a mother, I can see how the words you wrote can have the power to evoke emotion even in those who have yet to reproduce.
I actually felt the relief of the mother as she got what she needed to say off her chest. I also felt her love for her son. She felt safe to leave this world, leaving her son in it.
Well done
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