Linda Kulp Trout

Thursday, February 12, 2009

POETRY FRIDAY

Over at Miss Rumphius Effect , the Poetry Stretch this week was to write a love poem. My mother has been on mind so much recently. Her battle with cancer goes on, but she's beginnng to give up. Although she'll never see this poem, I hope she feels the love behind it.

Thinking About Her Life

Alone in her tiny apartment
she sits at the kitchen table,
stirring a cup of cold coffee—
daylight slowly fades.

Her friends are gone.
Beloved husband gone.
Children grown, gone.
Her soft dark hair— gone.

I visit on Saturdays,
we talk of the past
we talk of the present,
avoiding the future—

She says she’s afraid.
I’m afraid too—
but I don’t tell her
I can’t, not yet.

Instead I take her hand,
like she once took mine
helping me cross a busy street—
Now I must help her cross
over this wake of tears.

She looks to me for hope,
and I give it to her, a last gift
wrapped in a smile, a hug,
and a prayer
for my mother—


soon gone.

11 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry. I'm quite certain your mother feels the love behind your poetry and will feel it in the hard days to come ....

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  2. Oh Linda, it's so hard to watch your mom suffer and lost hope. Whether she reads this poem or not, I am sure she knows what you've expressed here.

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  3. Karen and Yat-Yee,

    Thank you for your comments. It is a very tough and lonely time for her. I'm going to miss her so much.

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  4. Linda I'm so sorry for your pain. I am sure your mother knows how dearly she is loved. Blessings for you both...

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  5. Oh Linda - I'm so sorry. How difficult for the both of you. You have made a thing of beauty with your pain, and it was both brave and kind of you to share it with us all.

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  6. Thank you Addie, Chris, and Kelly. I'd like to work on the poem a bit more because I'm not happy with it yet, but right now I need to step away from it for a while. My mother and I were never very close, so I didn't think saying good-bye would be as hard as it is.

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  7. Linda,

    This is truly a touching and gentle poem. I'm sorry to hear about your mother's cancer. It must be so difficult for you to see your mother suffer and lose hope.

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  8. Thank you, Elaine. Yes, it is very hard. She told me that she had eggs overlight last night and how wonderful it tasted. I can see that she's really appreciating the small things in life most of us take for granted. Even now, she's teaching me life lessons.

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  9. What an offering of your heart this poem is.

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  10. Thank you, Debbie. I never know if anyone will feel what I'm trying to say.

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