By touch, by sound
my fingers very softly trace
the lines by your eyes
and down your cheek
these traces of laughter
of moments we have
loved
my fingers smooth the furrows
that run across your brow,
the aches and incremental
worries of yesterdays, or what is
yet to come,
not now
my fingers create their own
memories cast in time and place
here upon your open
skin, like tongues they
sense and taste
each one
I bend down to sing a murmur
into your ear, you who
have lost the use of words,
and feel your warm pulse
slow to the rhythm of
my voice
the rhythm of goodbye
the lines by your eyes
and down your cheek
these traces of laughter
of moments we have
loved
my fingers smooth the furrows
that run across your brow,
the aches and incremental
worries of yesterdays, or what is
yet to come,
not now
my fingers create their own
memories cast in time and place
here upon your open
skin, like tongues they
sense and taste
each one
I bend down to sing a murmur
into your ear, you who
have lost the use of words,
and feel your warm pulse
slow to the rhythm of
my voice
the rhythm of goodbye
posted by MB at 9:02 AM
28 Comments:
big tears falling on m keyboard now. i'm sorry for your loss. big hugs, snowsparkle
Thank you, Snowsparkle, for your empathy. It is an old loss, revisited. Some are big that way. But this is how I know to incorporate it into the texture of my life.
such tenderness. beautiful!
That rhythm of goodbye. A sad rhythm marked by a slowing pulse. So touching.
Too many times, too many loved ones!
Thank you for these words!
alan
Such gentleness. I felt this physically in my heart as I read it. Surely one of the things we most hope from poetry - that it can speak of the unspeakable, the unspeakably sad, make a space in which to feel the feelings it's all too easy to shut off. I was very glad to read this.
what a beautiful and pain filled farewell
That is such a beautiful, beautiful picture of what is a very sacred time. All the more poignant and meaningful because of the depth of the relationship. I spend many similar moments with the dying, but it's not the same when it is someone close to you.
Your sense of touch is depicted so vividly in this. Touch for the physical, and touch for the emotional love for this person.
Especially liked the 'incremental worries' bit, like rings of age on a tree.
MB,
It's a graceful and gentle sadness. The rhyme works well and doesn't feel at all forced here. Good flow, and the "twist" works well.
(o)
(o)
Sweet. I love the discussion of the value of lines in the face. All these crazy people botoxing them away are only robbing the people who love them. The lines in our skins are, among other things, each individual's unique map of our shared experience. You point this out with great delicacy -- and, of course, without the botox rant! heh heh
wow, i don't know what to say;incredible.
such grace and tenderness shared in your rhythm and peace, a goodbye as gentle as autumn leaves falling from a deeply rooted tree.
Ah.
After a rather frenetic "workin' world" day with a few more to ride...thank you for the slow, expansive, opening moment, and the respite I found in this goodbye.
(And thanks for the "safe journeys" wishes!)
Mes doigts très doucement
tracent les lignes de vos yeux
dessinent sur votre joue
ces traces de rire
des moments
de notre amour .
The last line struck me as if I ran smack into a brick wall. This is so very powerful.
{{{ mb }}}
(O)
My thanks to you all.
you are such a musician in your words. thank you for this very sensuous and archetypal goodbye.
Elegiac, rememberance, tender, so tender, beautiful...
So poingnant it makes my eyes prickle
Ruth, Brenda, Sue, thank you.
beautiful and touching
the mix of perception and emotion at those intense times is life molding
this poem has a calm, but painful aura.. I felt your fingertips. The end caught me for a few seconds...
Well written mb!
Thank you for this
David and Luanne, thanks.
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