Grief
Once upon a time she could fly, if only in her dreams
but loss has rendered her both wingless and limbless
so she can hardly place one foot before the other,
let alone fly.
Left stranded
in an unreal world, inhabited
by people who could shoot a creature, an idea or a
flying dream to smithereens. There is so much they
do not understand:
her passion for the kind, half-heartedness of
mountain rain,
a need for
its gentleness and the solitude it gives.
Her habit of watching clouds which often seem to
match her moods,
or do her moods match theirs, either swift and
moving, bright with hope,
or wraithed in greyness, wretchedness and constant
changeability?
All she can do is stand on the edge of the golden strand,
gain some healing from the silver crystals of the
sea
and wait and watch and wonder at the the waywardness
of waves.
Not trying to
be brave, just still and quiet;
persistent, unflinching and private,
rather like her tears.
Cait O’Connor
9 comments:
Beautiful!
Cait, I think by now, you do know how I appreciate all you write. I also thank you again for giving me a gateway into poetry that I would not otherwise encounter in my day to day to day to day life.
And so, I do praise Grief, but also want you to know how much I rejoice when I know that my spirit will meet up with your words. I am alway enriched.
xo
So beautiful Cait. As I always tell you I'm not a big fan of poetry, but yours has a way of touching something deep inside me. Thank you
So beautiful. Love the alliteration too (wait and watch and wonder....). Thank you.
What a gorgeous poem! On reading it I felt as if I were eating a piece of blueberry cake with coconut on top. The kind that makes any meal memorable because it is the dessert you crave. Each line was thought carefully and each had its own gravitas. My favourite verses were:
"Her habit of watching clouds which often seem to match her moods,
or do her moods match theirs, either swift and moving, bright with hope, or wraithed in greyness, wretchedness and constant changeability?"
Greetings from London.
Dear Cait,
So very moving and quietly rendered.
Beautifully done. You always catch an echo or strike an emotional chord.
This is incredibly beautiful.
Beautiful Cait.
Grief to me, has so much to do with water.
In my most challenging time with this emotion it felt like a tsunami at times, coming in waves, at unexpected times.
You have captured aspects of grief with such powerful descriptive components of ocean/light/water and the necessary solitude to deal with raw emotion with your wonderful wonderful words.
Cait, thank you for that powerful poem and for the Seamus Heaney video.
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