Mila

Cherry

By Ed Crane

Wed, 13 May 2020
  • 3972 reads
16 comments
 

I opened your poems today

on a search for beautiful words.

I only have a few of them.

One of my deepest regrets.

 

Falling in love with yours.

Never sure if you fell in love with mine.

You were so polite.

A dozen years since our never-affair.

 

I found your obituary today.

You were so graceful.

Hiding your terror with wonder.

 .  .  .  . It didn’t say that.

Those last months must have been hell

when the poems no longer came.

 

You talked of angels and opera

I spoke of volcanos and aeroplanes.

You had a little god in your bedroom.

He must miss you still – as do the paintings

that whispered in your ear

I had only dolphins.

They never said a word.

 

I read your words and a tear dares to rise.

Words not intended for me.

   .   .  . beautiful  .  .   . Spreading them around,

but you shared secrets behind them with me.

Confusing me with your loves.

(While mine were more straightforward)

 

I -- like some Father O’Malley, behind a Gothic grill --

swallowed them.

Washing them down with unholy blood.

Easing your conscience.

 

Swapping secrets across an ocean

knowing we would never meet.

That wasn’t important.

We were closer than lovers could ever be.

Some might hope they would unite in death.

But that is not for us  .  .  . 

we both know we have more pressing liaisons.

Certificate PG
Poem

Comments

Submitted by Ewan on

heartfelt poetry.

You have a typo in the last line. 'Liaison' looks funny, but is the correct spelling.

I enjoyed this.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

I did correct it, but for some reason it didn't take. Done now.

Also I changed the line (s) I think it reads better now

 

Submitted by Seth Tan on

The imagery is really moving portrait of love and regret. A big well done,

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

I will be making a few minor changes to it

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

achingly sad

"I found your obituary today"

"He must miss you still"

"Words not intended for me... beautiful"

and then huge hearted, about the deepest  friendship, a union of souls

"We were closer than lovers could ever be.

Some might hope they would unite in death.

But that is not for us  .  .  . 

we both know we have more pressing liaisons"

 

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

She was a very talented poet. I never met her, but we frequently exchanged ideas and other things. I learnt a lot.

 

 

Submitted by drew_gummerson on

Agree too. Very moving. 

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

 

 

Submitted by onemorething on

I love the personal elements of this that emphasise its sadness somehow. Very moving indeed and beautifully written. 

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

Oddly enough, it was never intended to be sad. I have copies of some poems she wrote on an international writing site I used when I first decided to try writing. She helped me a lot and we use to correspond by a sort of Microsoft PM system (I think it's defunkt now since facebook and stuff)

I was looking for one of the few poems she had published on the net, but I only found an old obituary from a newspaper. She was suffering from MS and when she couldn't write anymore she stopped posting. I was surprised to find she died only a few months after she posted her last poem.

She was housebound and made up poems about her past life and all the things she saw around her house. Nobody would have known except close friends, she explained it to me in our PMs. We used to chat about our lives also. We had fun, she was a terrific poet (and very cheeky :)

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Gosh, all kinds of sadnesses here too in not being able to write anymore and dying not long after. I think you have captured that as well as the sense of fun and joy of sharing poetry, that's all definitely in your poem too. 

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

after she couldn't write. I think the poetry was keeping her from despair. It was an honour to have known her (even from a distance of about 3000 miles)

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

A very poignant piece, Ed. Had me trying to guess, of course. Sadly, there are a few who come to mind, but almost certainly not the person you write of here. We get to know people quite well in a tightly defined way on the Web. But there's a genuine intimacy in that spectrum band of our lives. I find that addressing words to someone helps to get them out and onto the page. You've done that in a lovely way here, and shared an intimacy with your readers as if in that confessional.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Ed Crane on

This lady passed away in December 2008. A long time before I joined ABC. It was rather an odd American site and we both used to laugh about some of the odd members. That's how we started corresponding. Her poems were simple but very clever. Although she wasn't born in an English speaking country she had mastered the language and she could turn its words into diamonds.

She had a few poems published in E-zines I was looking for them when I came across her obituary.

I could never write the way she did, I have tried but it  is difficult to take words and turn them into  things in the way she did, However she did help me quite a bit.

 

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Hi Ed. It's very sad to find people we were close to in some way, at some point, gone. I had a similar experience with someone who turned out to have quite an influence on me in York, first as a college lecturer, then as a drinking partner and cyclist. He'd been a very fit and competitive cyclist. A few years ago, I thought I'd look him up and renew the acquaintance and found his obituary. Sure enough, he'd been well liked.

I tried a couple of US sites before discovering this and another UK one. Allpoetry was one, I think. I found them a bit too gimicky. I'm glad I found this one.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Ed Crane on

sometimes it seems a little bland, but the people here are "real" (if you get my drift) and at least once a week we all get a gem to read. 

I was invited to join another site several years ago. It was never up to much, but now it's just a stinky mire. 

I found US site very good if you want help, but they seem very competitive and you learn very quickly to read between the lines, especially comments "vis a vie" your own writing

ABC is pretty much my home these days, although I do admit I need some stimulation to write more.