.
I cried today, struggled to strangle
A dam, battled to stem
The tide. I hold it here, just below the breastbone,
it beats like a second heart, remorselessly
threatening; a grey cloud pregnant with rain.
My tears feel too easy, it was their pain
I found hard to bear, listening to the radio
And chopping onions.
A French village, prettied with pansies, and everywhere
the lost , the squandered. Maille , April 1944.
Giselle and Gilbert water their tributes, hanging
baskets the receptacles of their love ,
a lifetime lived without. Without a father, butchered
alongside cousins, the babies, the laughter, the cows.
They remember, and thoughtfully refuse to forget.
Pansies, ‘pensées’ adding colour to the day.
Comments
Dendrite | July 21, 2008 - 23:09
Very beautiful, tragic, poems that deserve tears are few and far between. After a hurry and run around day, it put a perspective down. Congratulatins for making this.
Doeslittle | July 22, 2008 - 10:00
Only just spotted this...it's excellent. Very evocative. These lines: 'I hold it here, just below the breastbone,it beats like a second heart,' are so good that I almost felt it.
Not sure about 'a grey cloud pregnant with rain' as in a poem that is cleverly done and rich with original and poignant expression that this is less so and stands out for me.
anipani | July 22, 2008 - 12:50
thanks for the crit, i will think hard about what you think about the pregnant cloud. I write too quickly, too spontaneously , and edits can be good. I have too much sadness inside me at the moment, and external expressions of real tragedy trigger me into a ball of grief. I am aiming for perspective i think.
Dynamaso | July 23, 2008 - 02:33
Very sad and a timely reminder of the terrible atrocities that occur during war.
artisus | October 15, 2008 - 17:43
a good poem and a well-deserved cherry.