An Elegy

I.

That morning
When part of me
Died with you
I was forced to fathom words
So free of logic
They made no impact
“Gone where?”
The entity spread slowly
Like black ink
Across my heart, saturating me
Into dark pools of nothingness
Liquefying my legs so
I crawled and pounded
At the floor for another world
To open up because this one
Was no longer real

II.

I have your boots
Engraved leather, western
I know they danced up storms
Tears of laughter raining
With friends that could barely fit
Into the funeral home
I have your smile
Tucked into mine
I use it for all that
You forgot to smile at
And all that you did

III.

I recycle your dreams
Tarnished and tattered
They still matter
To me
I see you in the clouds
Emblazoned in
Fiery silhouettes
Did you know that
Seagulls float by
With sun speckles of
You on their wings?

In memory of my brother

~

An elegy is “a poem written to lament the loss of someone or something special to you”, as Gayle Walters Rose explains this week at dVerse: Meeting the Bar. Three stages of grief are included – sorrow, admiration and acceptance.

Choked Up

The words are ringing in my ears today

Blinding my eyes with tears

Taking me down to that place

Where the back of my throat is all I can feel

Razor-sharp annunciation

Cryptic though in clarification

Boxing my brain again

Revealing my pain again

Time has no bearing on this burden

Riddles, reasons overlap seasons

Oblivious to wasted time

Moments lost, never to find

Hope dangles on a thread

Frayed and frazzled in my head

Precious moments terminate

As stubborn hearts still beat

dVerse Open Link Night