Friday, January 18, 2019

Tarragona Widow

Sixty years inseparable love, I knew you perfectly,
read the maps of your mind and body unerringly,
rejoiced in your company.

Our love was strong and sure, multi-layered, a symphony
with melodies and harmonies in balance, perfection.
Passion entwined our bodies in dance,
hearts beating in time, part of each other.

Sixty years inseparable love, childless and contented,
ended.
Your long lean body cold to touch,
your laughing eyes dead and glassy now,
your loving lips pale, still and grey,
your passion, your humour and vitality
all have drained away.

This empty husk is you,
is all that’s left of you,
is all I have of you.

They can’t take you away from me,
I will hide you away from them,
I’ll keep you safe in a secret place,
you’re mine for eternity.

I don’t want to lose you.

The pungent, rich sweetness of you,
like incense, hangs in the air,
rises with your soul like a prayer,
fills the room with heady aroma.

I breathe you in.
You are part of me once more. 


*** 

This poem is based on a true story. 
 

(Previously published in Quantum Leap poetry magazine and first posted on this blog in 2006) 

I also reposted an old poem on Crafty Green Poet today, you can read it here.




7 comments:

Nia said...

This is _so_ sad. Do you find it easier to write sad poems?

Crafty Green Poet said...

Hi Nia
Thanks for visiting my new blog! It seems to be a bit temperamental, so I was very reassured to find your comment here! Yes I do find it easier to write poems. I think a lot of people do.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Of course that should say I find it easier to write sad poems.

Anonymous said...

I love the mix of tones here - the longing, the melancholy, the touch of madness...

Anonymous said...

This is beautifully sad.
Through your description, I can feel the strength of those sixty years loving memories that will endure forever. If this is a factual piece (which is how I read it), I wish you could "breathe in" more than memories. Hearfelt condolences.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Hi there gel, great to see someone reading back over all the posts! This is in a sense a factual piece, but not a personal piece. I based it on a newspaper article I read about a woman in Tarragona, Spain who had lost her husband after sixty years and hid him in a cupboard because she didn't know what to do.... I'm a lot younger and my partner is alive and well!

Evi Erlinda - Brain Plasticity said...

love forever...
greeting- evi erlinda