the unspeakable grief of a mother cleansing her son’s spilt blood

Cherry

By Coolhermit

Tue, 28 Jul 2020
  • 497 reads
3 comments
 

[tanka format]

 

hot soapy water

long gone cold, a scrubbing brush

and disinfectant.

pavement grit grazing her knees

mingles their life-bloods again.

 

no careless foot will

tread upon this awful stain

memorial to

a fatal steel-blade stabbed heart

a sharper steel runs hers through.

 

 

 

 

 

Certificate PG
Poem
Love

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Cuts straight in. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by catherine poarch on

Very, very good. Most moving lines in it for me were the 'no careless foot..' ones. What was just passed over by other people meant everything to the mother. 

I didn't know much about tanka and have just googled it. Thanks for that, it looks interesting.

 

Submitted by Coolhermit on

 I wrote it some time ago and re-wrote it completely this morning - the image of the woman has long haunted me a googling of the title might bring up the photograh. I know nothing of the circumstances beyond her son had been slain... 

 

Rick.