I have had a new poem, A Sudden Absence, published in Bluepepper. Read it below, or better still, read it online at Bluepepper, where you will find an array of fine poetry on offer.
This wonderful site, edited by Australian poet Justin Lowe, has recently been included in Pandora,the National Library of Australia’s Web Archive — which is a testament to the high standard of poetry it publishes. Just sign up via email to receive a regular dose of good quality poems into your inbox. Enjoy!
A Sudden Absence
When a sudden absence opens
where before there was a lover, or a child,
(a child’s worse, we must all agree
a child’s loss is worst), the everyday
grows almost perverse.
Routine grinds around and round the lack
and identity, devoid of vital purpose
withers back…
Autumn’s raw draft rankles from her room —
but I don’t look; instead I close the door,
and try to cover up by loving
the others a little more.
Comments 0
beautiful, michele.
Author
Thank you so much, Robbie x
Michele, A chilly aching, poignant, heartbreaking…”Autumn’s raw draft rankles….” Congratulations on another poem published, my friend. xo
Author
Thank you, Chloe – for always reading, and for your wonderful support. x
Beautiful and affecting.
Author
Charles, thank you so much. I’m a big fan of your beautiful poetry, so your comment means a lot.
A wonderful, spare poem Michele. So intimate….
Author
What a perceptive comment! Thank you.
this poem is haunting in the best possible way. tony
Author
Thank you for that, Tony. I’m so glad it touched you.
Beautiful, Michele. I was especially moved by the final line: “…I close the door,
and try to cover up by loving the others a little more.” Powerful.
Author
Thank you so much, Marylin. x
Nice job with the imagery in the second stanza, M.
Author
Thank you, D. Thanks for noticing. 🙂
Hi Michele,
A powerful verse, specially the closing lines, and I quote:
“…but I don’t look; instead I close the door,
and try to cover up by loving
the others a little more.”
Does such behaviour arise from a need to avoid facing reality or the need to ‘cover up’ and feign all is normal. This again arising from a need to avoid a lack of orderliness in one’s life.
What would you say is in the background of such needs?
Shakti
Author
Hi Shakti. Thanks for your comment. I think this poem is expressing a desire to avoid the pain of loss.
Hauntingly eerie and hopeful. I love the end. The whole piece reminds me of Emily Dickenson. Your poems always linger with me, Michele. Thank you for sharing your gift.
Author
Hi Michael. Thanks so much for this comment. I’m glad you found the poem both eerie and hopeful. And Emily Dickinson – wow! How amazing is her poetry. So gentle and strong simultaneously. I love her, so probably no coincidence my poetry is influenced by hers! Thank you, as always, for reading. I really appreciate your support.
Our haunted minds, houses with rooms, doors, and windows to peer through as we walk on creaking floors to the stories of the people we know and love. Every now and then time relents and we visit a room we closed the door on lost to the past, just to remember and honour once wounds have healed and no longer fresh with pain.
Pondering how we live and the mind works, well explored, Michele.
Author
Thank you so much, Sean – I love what you’ve written here.