"To Say Farewell"

My heart has rooms that sigh with dust
And ashes in the the hearth.
They must be cleaned and blown away
By daylight's breath.
But I cannot essay the task,
For even dust to me is dear;
For dust and ashes still recall,
My love was here.

I know not how to say Farewell,
When Farewell is the word
That stays alone for me to say
Or will be heard.
But I cannot speak out that word
Or ever let my loved one go:
How can I bear it that these rooms
Are empty so?

                               I sit among the dust and hope

                              That dust will cover me.

                              I stir the ashes in the hearth,

                              Though cold they be.

                              I cannot bear to close the door,

                              To seal my loneliness away

                              While dust and ashes yet remain

                              Of my love's day.

"To Say Farewell" is a selection from a book in a series I love called The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson. He is an amazing author and I recommend the series, although I know not everyone enjoys his style. This is a beautiful interpretation of love and the loss of love that we experience as we go through life. 

This picture I took on a vacation in Bannor Elk, North Carolina. This particular location was a trail with an amazing lookout called Beacon Heights.

Once again, feel free to post your thoughts...

More Poetry...

These are my most recent pieces. They are much shorter and I have enjoyed discovering the technique of saying everything I need in only a few lines. The second of the two I wrote just yesterday while sitting on my front porch enjoying the warmth of the sun and the perfume of hyacinths in our front garden. I truly hope my readers can take something from these pieces.
This picture is another one I took. It is a rose that has only partially opened and has not yet had the chance to fully bloom. Once again, I felt this picture reflected some elements within these poems.


------------------

I'd say I lost you,
But I never had you
--Instead I lost myself.

---------------------

As a child you were told
Of the piece of silver worth a hundred gold;
More the pain of losing you
Than the thousand souls I never knew.

Poem from September of 2009

      

This is one of mine. I wrote it last year while going through a lot of difficult things. This is the longest piece I've written. Feel free to comment your thoughts and opinions. I am sure I'm not the only one to feel something like this.

FYI: This orchid is a picture I took while vacationing in the mountains of Bannor Elk, North Carolina. The orchid, much like the rose, is considered a symbol of love. The darker, mysterial colors seemed to fit this particular work.

Two daggers to my soul!

Thrust so carelessly without thought

Or count for cost.

Laughingly tossed aside

If only to tease and return again.

Ah! how the light plays on those twin blades

As they feint and dance.

Seeking, finding

Mine own checked and safely kept askance.

Eden! what light is this

That captivates my every thought

Without room for breath.

Forbidden fruit? Hardly so sweet

As one might think.

Eat, and succumb to soul's certain death.

For where such warmth might lead

I feel a certain dread;

For every dream I fabricate

I pull a darkened thread.

The fabric of my dreams undone

Surrenders at the seams.

And hands of lead weave quietly

Weeping for what no one sees.

Threads wanting of even loss

Withdrawn to shape my veil.

Shelter found, dark and cold

Hiding that which I cannot hold.

You there, and I here

Walking along the line

Separating us from

Everything that we must never find.

The shadows cast--

Is all we have

Yet priceless treasure still.

This dubious cup I drink deep--

Forced to find my fill.

Yet if that light were poison to me

Then darkness must be my shield.

And so the hated veil once loathed

Proves sole weapon left to wield.

I dare not forsake my armour

Lets sudden light leave me blinded

-- And stumbling,

I find myself a fool.