Thursday, July 25, 2013

PAGES OF SORROW




















I weep for too few days left, and too many,
and collect tears in leaves being swept
from trees burning on the coasts
of two continents, burying them in dunes.

My sadnesses grow from joy as well
as small unhappinesses, but all bring
a weighty importance in the moment
of their happenstance, and I have learned
to honour each one with the individual
ritualistic ceremony I deem proper
to the occasion;
This might involve an hour of silence,
or days on my knees.

I sob when I learn of children dying
anywhere - victims of genocide,
war, or infanticide...and depending
where I am in my own life,
the accumulation of pain,
is a strong indicator,
as to how much more I can bear
to amass --

If I am not cognizant of the sorrows
I am toting like carry-on baggage
at any one time -- it is easy
for me to slip into a state
where I cannot control
the amount of despair sloshing
within my being...

However, if dawn's curtains part
on skies gray as gloom,
I find counting
distressful situations irresistible
Before my feet even hit the floor
I number: the labs using animals
to test for mak-eup,
the Navy sending sonar through
the oceans, making whales bleed inside

My eyes are swimming as I remember
our Tar Sands are spilling daily
with no regard to those living
downstream
I cannot seem to turn off the reel
of Baby M; the tiny girl laying dead
 and cold in a local cemetery
Starved and beaten by her parents
who are now imprisoned,
awaiting a trial starting here in
several months...

It's usually the last one that either
forces me to pull the covers
back up and over reality...
Or me up and out into the dark world...
Again, it matters in what part of
the dismal world I find myself...

dVerse - Thursday July 25, 2013



22 comments:

  1. I found this both stunning and heart wrenching. I think it did just what it was attended to do. It calls attention to that side of life which is beyond our control and arouses compassion. And I just realized, I never knew, or didn't remember, the outcome in the Baby M case. How tragic.

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  2. whump---like a punch in the gut that one...i am very empathetic and feel the pain of others, esp those children...ah its a passion---and all the things that add up can be consuming...sloshing around in my being...love that description....

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    1. fyi...got your question last night...i got the notebook at WalMart actually...ha...they had a few funny ones...

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  3. Painful and heart wrenching... pain is prevalent in each and every life.. some feel it outside while some die from within. pain, despair: they shatter the reality as we know or as we knew it.

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  4. Am sorry you relate to my list but I can see how much you relate to despair in the world. Your line about carry-on emotional baggage...that used to be me. Now it's just in my writing *snork*. Not sure I've ever had a reality that's good. I have some good in my reality. Hugs if okay.

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  5. Oh--now this is a painful list. I have said elsewhere as poets/writers we must let the world get under our skins, and that HURTS.

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  6. Your list is touching and sad ~ There are many things happening in the world right now that worries & pains me too ~ But its a matter of perspective too, it makes me grateful for what I have ~

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  7. In times like these, it's good to have poetry to turn to :) ~peace, Jason

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  8. stark,taut, and superbly written !!
    full of emotional intensity !!

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  9. Gosh, I agree that it is both stunning and heart wrenching. It's hard to comprehend all the tragic things that happen in this world. I've felt like this often... sometimes I just have to turn of the telly and the world.

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  10. Very poignant writing. There really are so many sad situations....both in one's personal life and in the world at large. I cry too at so few days left...but then again I appreciate that I have more days left today than I will have tomorrow. Deeply thought-provoking work.

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  11. i like how your compassion shines through in this... and we cannot change the world big style usually but we can do our little bit to make it a better place

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  12. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I let it out. That's how powerfully this poem struck me, moving from general to specific (how awful about Baby M), the stuff of nightmares. Deep feeling here. Thank you.

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  13. Heart wrenching. To feel the pain and well, there are enough around us (not for us though) and ironical that yet, we find to keep ourselves smiling.

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  14. Oh a tragic list of the awful things that happen in life. I too worry about all these things and could make myself quite ill if I did not stop. I now do a bit to help those causes that I can be useful to and contribute financially to a few distant ones. The others I have to put out of my mind as there is nothing I can do about them.

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  15. Thank you for facing this list squarely and acknowledging all the items on it. We must keep them in the forefront until we can change them ... and never give up.

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  16. How remiss of me not to make it back to this site until now to read all of your deeply moving comments (I rarely write on this blog is my paltry excuse)and perhaps I was afraid, given the nature of this poem, most might misunderstand and find it too gloomy by far. I should not have under-estimated any of you dear poet-readers. As always you read with compassion and commented likewise. Thanks so much.

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  17. I can definitely relate to these feelings.

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  18. So many reason to know sadness, large and small....

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  19. Great stuff.Id like to suggest taking a look at things like cheese. What do you think?
    jeux de fille gratuit

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  20. Yes, there are so many awful things in life...sometimes it is overwhelming.

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