Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Sojourn



Did I abandon
my body
when she grew tired
of nurturing all but herself?

Bitterness filling
a now fruitless womb.
How stale the taste of age
on the tongue of one who
longs for new.

Letting them go,
no easy task
for forever loving them.

Still I remember
the joy of their years
sharing that part of myself I see
 leaving for an unknown place.

Always bound
to taunt heartstrings
like a harp
the music slow and mournful
with a painful beauty of leaving
it all behind.

Still the echoes
fill the years-
Loving was not always easy
the emptiness it leaves-
.

 In a darkened room
 filled with shadows,
 I gather memories, stored
safe in the deepest marrow

15 comments:

  1. That second stanza really striking, gut-wrenching poem brilliantly composed

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  2. loving can def leave an emptiness at times...
    gathering memories in your marrow...what an arresting image
    works for a great close though

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  3. I love your opening...just drew me right in. Felt this one deep, Lisa. Great to see you!

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  4. Yes, the opening and the ending too! And the middle, and... :)

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  5. Aging, watching children leave, living without for the first time, all leave lingering pains. May the memories heal

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  6. I specially love the ending ~ I believe in nurturing the body & mind, specially now that I am growing older ~ I know those shadows, they linger long & full of mourning ~ Love your piece Lisa ~

    Grace

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  7. Beautiful.
    How we do love our children forever and hard it is to let go. But we have done our job well and should take joy in that.
    Anna :o]

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  8. The parting... any parting... that's what aging is.. the knowledge that we gradually part with everything piece by piece... such a powerful poem.

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  9. Your poem seems to collapse time so that the birthing and the letting them go grown are equal--a new idea for me. But I have learned from early hysterectomy NOT to ever abandon the body, never ever, not as long as alive on mother earth. It does more than we think.

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  10. Very nice work here speaking of both a true melancholy and consolation too... I especially liked:

    "How stale the taste of age
    on the tongue of one who
    longs for new." With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com

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  11. It is hard to watch and let a child go...you have stated its pain so well. But there is also a new life for a mother...One she can fill with her own dreams.

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  12. this is really tender and beautiful.. my fav lines were: Loving was not always easy; Bitterness filling
    a now fruitless womb.;
    and the taunting of heart strings.

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  13. i like the title...their stay with the parents is a brief sojourn making life worth living...love
    the tender note all through...

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  14. Lisa,

    It might well be my situation in your words..I felt a sadness too while understanding the poem...Empty nest is never an easy stage in life:)

    Eileen

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  15. Thank you all for your comments. I always love hearing from you.

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