My New Life

You abandoned me to sit alone
as darkness fell once more,
wondering for what I should atone
when you walked out the door.

My life is full of tattered dreams,
and my body’s feeling blue;
you’re gone for good it seems
leaving me to brood and stew.

Telling me there’s someone new,
that nearly broke my heart;
I didn’t even have a clue
until we fell apart.

You left our world in a mess,
there was nothing I could do;
I always thought we’d pass the test
until this day was through.

But now that I’ve had some time to think,
about you loving another’s wife,
all I want is to have a drink,
and celebrate my new life.

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Lost Song: an elegy

How do we say goodbye
to one teetering on the brink of life,
childhood behind, striding towards adulthood,
with unseen tears closeted behind a façade
that excluded everyone, hiding his pain, his fears,
his belief that solace would be found
by departing this world?

Now that pain is riven, shattered
like the souls he left behind, shared
amongst the survivors of the war within him,
who trudge through each day wondering
what they could have done, why didn’t they see,
why didn’t they hear his voice wailing
in the silence of his lonely fortress?

His toddling steps still echo in his parents’ ears,
the smile that once illuminated their life
now extinguished, his laughter, a memory
to be replayed in the night, his name quivering
upon friends’ lips who look, then realize there’s
no one there, just remnants of a lost soul,
an unfulfilled promise who’s time is past.

How do we say goodbye?  We sing
a song of love and loss, share memories of a life
too soon ended, give thanks for the joy his presence
bestowed, embrace him within our hearts, love him
as he was, so human and frail; light a candle to guide
his way onward, remind ourselves that we can’t
control the hand of fate, and say, 

“Until we meet again.”

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Little Red Shoes

Perched upon the yard

like a rusty skeleton,

a swing-set with empty seats

swaying

Fallen near the walk

once-proud possession

a bike with both tires

deflated

Abandoned in the silent room

a one-eyed owl

with love-tattered wings

deserted

Clothing the narrow bed

a pretty pink comforter

with party-dress frills

smoothed

and these little red shoes

with no one left

to greet


(Photo courtesy of nonsense_dreamer (Amelie) at DeviantArt; http://nonsense-dreamer.deviantart.com/gallery/?1441026#/dzdfn2)

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The Mirror

Before I knew him,
he was gone,
lost to this world.
No knowledge exists
of my own,
only stories told
to me by someone else.
Stories of love
and laughter,
of resemblance found
in this face of mine.
So I search
each mirror hoping
to see the ghost
I loved and lost
before I realized
what it meant
to have a father,
and seek to fulfill
the dreams once
had by the one
I never knew.

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Poetry Challenge 2009: Day 6 / Prompt - something missing

Empty Room

Yesterday blurred
into day, is fading
into tomorrow

Go to work
every morning
Come home
each evening

Wash and fold
laundry done
Suds and rinse
dishes cleaned

Spritz and wipe
dusting complete
Rumbling journey
floors vacuumed

Keep busy
Don’t think

about the journey
down the hall

past that room
now empty

except for
the silent crib

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