broken, forgotten
someone's mother, father, sister
brother, friend
lie beneath
nothing left
but ash of bone and
funerary splinters
years and
years of tears once wept here
now wept on the ocean floor
by nothing but a ghost
she never wanted to be here
no one ever wants to be here
when her time came she drowned
and the last of
the family's memories
the last of their legacy
drowned with her
leaving all that's left of her loved ones
nameless, weatherworn and abandoned
decorated with eidolon roses
from phantom hands and phantom hearts
not even stone lasts forever
Author notes
(2009-5-8)
In a list
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
-
from the moment i read this one of my favorite poems came to mind...
Have you read stephen dunn?
The poem is called "Our Parents"
It is dedicated to his brother.
What i like about his poem is that he took a universal idea and was able to create a very private poem. The universal element of course is that everyone wants their story to go on... i think mostly though, they don't.
Our parents
Our parents died at least twice,
the second time when we forgot their stories,
or couldnt imagine how often they craved love,
or felt useless, or yearned for some justice
in this world. In their graves, our parents need
for us is pure, they're lost without us.
Their honeymoon in Havana does or does not
exist. That late august in the catskills
we can decide to make them happy.
What is the past if not unfinished work,
swampy fecund, seductively reviseable?
One of us has spent his life developing respect
for the weakness of words, the for what
must be held on to; there may be chance for us.
We try to say what happened in that first house
where we were, like most children, the only
needy people on earth. We remember
what we were forbidden, who got the biggest slice.
Our parents, meanwhile must have wanted something
back from us. We know what it is, don't we?
We've been alive long enough.
At any rate.. i really like the element of this that you touched upon and i am excited to read more of your work.
Mary
-
-
Wow, that poem is really great!
No I've never read Stephen Dunn before
Thanks for sharing and thanks for the nice comment and applause. I am honoured that you are excited
-
-
he's great.. that poem was taken from his book "different hours"
I think you would really like him...
-
-
-
decorated with eidolon roses
from phantom hands and phantom hearts
not even stone lasts forever
! love this. this is absolutely beautiful. for some reason it reminds me of a song by holly mcnarland..water i think its called. i like the spacing and all, it replaces punctuation pretty well, the whole thing flows to perfection. beautiful poem miss!
-
-
Thanks, Jane!
It amazes me how many people read a poem of mine and tell me that it reminds them of a song I've never heard, I'll have to look that one up...
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 5 of 5
