I, unfortunately, mistakenly, attributed yesterday's Shakespeare challenge to Kerry (who is sort of Lead Toad in our Imaginary Garden) but it had really been Susan who offered us The Bard as inspiration. After apologies all over the place, and much groveling on my part, Susan said she was flattered to have been taken for Kerry.I changed it, to give Susan her rightful due.
All's well that ends well, as Shakespeare once said, at some length.
Today, Susan challenges us to write a hello/goodbye poem. This is particularly difficult for me because it is an emotional time of life for me. It is 50 years this spring since I graduated from high school and, although it was a very small graduating class, some of us are no longer alive. And of course we all knew one another, many from early childhood. Very few, if any, of us have parents now.
Things are happening to my friends and to their spouses and I do not like it, Sam-I-Am. I do not like it in a box, I do not like it with a fox, I do not like it in the air, I do not like it on a chair.I do not like it with a fish.
I do not like it, and I wish
we didn't have to say goodbye at all.
Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name?
Hello, world, won't you please stop? I want to get off.
Hello, walls, perhaps, in you, I won't have to say goodbye.
Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad. There was a time
I couldn't imagine the world without you,
and now I have to live in it
with so much joy gone.
Kay L. Davies, April 24, 2013, for the 24th in the April poem-a-day challenge.
22 comments:
How well can I respond with tears in my eyes except to say how moving this is to read about high school reunions along with lines from a favorite children's story (not there for our own childhoods), songs, goodbyes, and desires to feel and not to feel. I trust not all the joy is gone, my friend.
heh-heh ... yes, sometimes it would be good to stop the world ... I miss my parents too, yet your poem has a lightness about it that makes it a tribute / celebration :)
I so miss my parents..I had two sets, my natural parents and my in-laws. Goodbyes are not sweet sorrow.
That has a echo of the Janet and John books that were around way back when. But you manage to encapsulate the years between then and now with all the emotion of things lost, but not forgotten. ♥
Kay, this is really poignant. The last paragraph:
"Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad. There was a time I couldn't imagine the world without you..." touched me deeply.
Yet, life goes on and Time heals the pain of the loss.
Blessings...
Rita
Hari OM
Wow, Kay, I just read yesterday's and today's and in two such different styles to have demonstrated such poignancy... I am in awe madam!
Pranaams, YAM
Faron Young would love the "hello walls" line!
I miss my dad, who passed in 1998. My mother is still living, which is amazing, since she only has such a tiny dried up raisin for a heart.
having too recently said goodbye to a dear friend, this poem touches me deeply
Good-byes are always hard; and unfortunately the older one gets the more one has to say good-bye to those one loved/loves. We still must, however, be open to those hellos that happen along the way.
Despite your light-hearted parody of Dr Seuss, this poem speaks of genuine loss.
Well I believe you did very well with the poem challenge. You found a light hearted way to say so much!!
This is very moving and bought tears to my eyes. Goodbye is always the hardest word (to quote the song) xxx
this is pure art, it looks simple on the outside but dig a little and it's heartbreaking. well done Kay
oooooh Kay, indeed. people are dying. i'm younger than you but it is happening in my world and i realize it will continue, more rapidly. that's hard to take. i so appreciate the sentiments here, expressed perfectly Seussishly, just perfect. xo
I certainly relate to this emotional post .. I am past my 50 year graduation mark and so many of my classmates are gone. Thankful for those in my life!
I feel exactly the same way.
This is so moving, Kay. Under the piquant humor is the pain of loss. The down-side of growing older. Too many goodbyes.
Got through to both your poems of yesterday and today.
1) We sure miss our parents for the love and protection like no other. One can only hope to shower the same if not more now to those deserving - our grand children.
2) Your one-liner interspersed alternating with the Bard's is a clincher, perfect! It brings me the chuckles reminiscent of the Bard's wit,too! Brilliant, Kay!
Hank
It is what we all fear... living on with loved ones gone. But we must and I like to think the remembering makes it easier - Hugs, Kay. This brought tears to my eyes.
Thanks, everyone. I didn't think it was brilliant but it was certainly heartfelt.
No, there was no Dr. Seuss when I was little, but I used to babysit children who loved Green Eggs and Ham (read to them at bedtime, not fed to them for breakfast) and the first time I read it, I felt quite queasy!
K
Kay, my mother didn't live long enough to see her 50th reunion, so that is a blessing, you still here.
I understand your heartache at the passing of not only your folks, but so many friends. My dad was 81 at his passing and he literally had no one older than he. "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off" was an old Broadway musical, BTW!
This was heartfelt and sad and also well written. Went smoothly from intro to verse, like butter. Thanks Amy
Oh gosh, Kay... This post got me really teary. I'm so sorry for your sadness. I'm feeling a lot of it too. I've got a funeral to attend next week. There's been too many lately.
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