Half-Past December

Cherry

By Silver Spun Sand

Mon, 06 Jan 2014
  • 1823 reads
10 comments
 
Christmas morning; that off-kilter smile...a last gift
from you to me, and mine – your favourite skin cream. 
Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise... your motto,
your mantra – your lifeline.  
 
And so I massaged you; every north, south, east
and west of you; watched you skim the coast...drift
to your island;  only touch keeping you afloat.
 
Eyes that once sparkled with massed crystals
like the scales of a Blue-Paradise fish, fought
to stay open, as I strove to  keep you in my sights
in the unforgiving mist of yesterdays 
and my own self-pity.
 
This wasn’t how it was meant to be the day 
you came to me; not what I’d had in mind at all... since
the first stutter of your eyelids brushing my cheek
became the last thing I’d forget... 
 
And you, running in from the yard; a scrappy
yellow fringe bothering your brow – remnants 
of a rainy afternoon, and a scissor-happy sister 
deciding to trim it; how you reminded me 
of a dandelion flower – trenchant as you’d grown...
 
a question mark of a curl on your forehead,
small hands cupped, as if in prayer...
a baby sparrow, fallen from the nest.
 
May we keep it? you said, and I taught you
the art of letting go, as I needed you to teach me...then,
in that hospice room.
 
My hand in yours, felt the love affair you had with life, fast
slipping through your fingers, as fell petals to the floor –
French lavender, and lilac
 
in the vase by your bed that caught the light;  
angled stints of a gilt edged blackberry sky, snagged 
on purpure thorns of goodbyes. 
 
Outside – a tenderness of snow caressed the trees;
inside – the room – dark, but for the unflinching, 
blue, luminescence of an indifferent T.V. screen;
 
half-past December, and how I wanted to stop 
all the clocks...cut off the phones; lace curtains quivering 
with a draught from an open casement window. 
 
Moonshine on frosted glass...shimmering
like a seabird’s wings, risen from the tide; the ether – 
electric with escape. Somewhere between hope
and despair, I told you – Go, if go you must,
but fly high, little fledgling, mine.
 
Certificate PG
Poem
Spiritual
Love
Autobiography

Comments

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Hi Tina.  This must be a hard time for you.  Beautifully written.  Some lovely but sad thoughts: memories, life slipping away and the apparent indifference of the world around.  They're out there somewhere.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

I like to believe they are too, PT.  And yes... it is.

My thanks to you.

Tina

 

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

This is a lovely poem Tina.  Such memories are hard at Christmas and New Year.

Linda

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thank you Linda, for reading, for your thoughts, and for your empathy.

Tina

 

Submitted by Bee on

Tina, this is such a gentle and peaceful read. I can barely see what I'm writing here - I'm so moved by this beautiful poem of yours. And so sad.

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thank you, Bee. It all still seems like yesterday, and yet sometimes, like a million years ago.

Tina

 

Submitted by VeraClark on

Can't believe I missed this. Precious memories spun with such delicacy and artful precision that they form a portfolio of moments, as one registers, the next comes in, making a staccato of pain. You emphasise the blatent disregard of life daring to go on so starkly. It's marvellous.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

What can I say, Vera, but, thank you, both for your eloquence, and your empathy.

Tina

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Congratulations on the praise in the competition, Tina, for this. There is so much there, and when I first read it I thought maybe I had commented on some parts of this sometime at an earlier time, but the coming together of the different incidents works so well here, so poignant, but the good memories bubbling up, and the lovely descriptions of the appreciated beauty around too. Sharing so much to help others too.
Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Rhiannon, thank you, so much, for taking so much time and thought with this one, and what you have written, touches my heart.

Tina