Russet leaves flatter the earth
Mornings wring wet,
jagged afternoons
We cluster in droves at footpath cafés
Cappuccino frothing like gossip on our lips
Summers’ last stolen twitch
And all the while
That callous harpy that is death
Scrapes her nails
Across the blackboard
of life.
RIP, Clare.
13 comments:
Very well written poem.
Thanks, Villager. I wrote it for a friend of ours whose 19 year old daughter died of bowel cancer. She was a lovely girl, if mine turn out half as lovely as her I'll be very happy!
That really is very excellent. A competition winner if you can bear to enter something so personal.
Nice work, Sag.
I can't read poems - not sure why. Never have been able to. Don't hate me for it. It's the mathematician in me - I see short lines and my mind shifts into calculator mode.
How sad re your friend's daughter - so very young to die.
Scribbling poems can help take the edge off grief, even while the hair on the back of one's neck is still standing up from the scrape of fingernails across the black board... what an apt and painful image...
Steve - you're way too kind but thanks anyway! (I'm not sure I can enter it in anything now that I have "self published" it??)
Rol - cheers!
RB - hey no worries, maths has the same mind-numbing effect on me too. I'll drink to that!
Owen - indeed; even now I find it hard to get that she really has gone.
that last verse is so so good. you clever. xxx
Aaaah so your wonderful poem has gone public at last! Excellently written Amanda (a shame of course it has to be based on such sad subject matter of course); evocative imagery and language; compact and concise...Gosh I'm such a bloody English teacher...
But undoubtedly an A* !!! Go to the top of the class!!
Pixie - why spank you m'am! Considering you always got more published at school than I did, high praise indeed.
OC - hehe, yes I finally decided to "do it" - thanks for all your encouragement. I guess I owe you a shiny red apple?!
Excellent writing.
Condolences.
Love the photos in the last post.
Very poignant Amanda. I hope it was a comfort to her family.
What a lovely tribute.
Sometimes poetry can clear the mind of extraneous thoughts and let them float free.
My condolences.
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