Reunited
dedicated to a dear friend, Cheryl who died of cancer, a death hastened by contracting covid, and her devoted husband Roy, who too succumbed to the pandemic.
updated after edits suggested by StormWolf
your falcon flew into my heart
to tear out the corded pump from me.
you said “there comes a time to part
and you, my dove, must let me be.”
I felt your longing to be free
Body wasted, relentless pain
circling the sun your silhouette –
wings wide, rising, currents riding
into the eve and past gliding –
remains stamped true inside my eyes.
letters re-opened, read, reread,
present everywhere your presence
I’ve waited for our reunion –
heart’s space locked, a vacant lot –
to banish the desolation
of love temporarily lost.
I close my eyes and rise to you
folded into the shape of you
Wow! What an experiential reading! It’s painful to go through such a loss, but you have justified it (if I dare to say so without sounding shallow) with a beautiful poem. I think the symbolism that you have used, with birds of different nature, depicts two different aspects of love, love does tear you apart (in this case, literally and figuratively) while it also heals you. Sad that such lovebirds had to succumb to the imperceptible virus.
S, they may have gone, but they have left traces, and those traces are as alive as the sun this morning. we all face losses, and the manner of how we deal with and rise above them is what defines us as human beings.
thank you for your generous comments.
If I am to be totally honest, I found the repetition of the phrase”the shape of you” lost some power. It is an original and emotive phrase filled with longing…so you had it in the title but then again twice in the body of the poem. I also found the imagery of the falcon too harsh for a loving wife but I do understand the trauma of having a heart ripped out by the loss… It is a difficult one but a falcon and a dove are very different creatures with different energy so to me it did not really… Read more »
Alison,
that is such great feedback. Being focused so much on the piece it does blinker me sometimes and need honest comments from readers like you.
You have read the poem closely and I will look at all your suggestions.
thanks so much.
bhi