Divorce
One thought possesses me.
Did you dream this end?
And if you did,
Is all the laughter cancelled?
Are our shared moments of glad grace
Proved worthless by this last event?
And if they are,
How can we conjure hope
To buttress frail desire
That love could come again,
Clothed in uncertain dreams,
And not lasciviously draped
With this sad livery of loss?
© James Rainsford 2011
Note to readers:
A painful subject for many, but often, an experience which makes us stronger and more able to cope with the sad intensity of separation.
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The questions we are left with in the end...painful, as you say, but powerfully delivered here, by your hand. Kudos on working in "lasciviously" - a quality bit of the English language I've not heard in some time. Always wonderful when one can take such unused, but no less powerful words, and execute their delivery well.
ReplyDeletesuch a hard place...there at the end after investing and giving one self and hoping that something could be different but...
ReplyDeletesuch loss and yet so beautifully expressed...your poem goes right to the core of relationships, pointing out what really matters, even when we have lost at love..."that love could come again, clothed in uncertain dreams" so remarkably expressed, your analogies go right to ones heart...what a beautiful poem amidst the sadness...great writing
ReplyDeleteA decade ago, my 13 year marriage ended, and that is the right word. Simply because a thing ends, does not mean it "failed." It was the right thing when it began, and it ran its course.
ReplyDeleteI really like the accompanying picture.
The last line says a great deal about that time--you feel like everyone can see how shattered you are. "Losing love is like a window in heart/everybody sees you're blown apart," as Paul Simon said many years ago now. A graceful piece, James, on an awkward subject.
ReplyDelete"laughter cancelled" and "sad livery of loss" are potent images! Sometimes there is a kind of grainy beauty in pain!
ReplyDelete"...How can we conjure hope
ReplyDeleteTo buttress frail desire..."
Indeed! A bottomless pain in a poet's hand takes on a filigree of in between lines and your poem does deepen with them, the power in your hands that you wielded here so finely. Thank you!
Is all the laughter cancelled?
ReplyDeleteAre our shared moments of glad grace
Proved worthless by this last event?
These words say it all for me. Long after the end, the fear that it had all been an illusion dogged me...
"That love could come again,
ReplyDeleteClothed in uncertain dreams,"
These lines painted a refreshing picture of hope...
"Is all the laughter canceled?" What a creative way to ask a very significant question. The whole piece was very well done. Vb
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful look at such a painful subject, I shall have to read this one again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing :)
"laughter cancelled" oh what a thought. maybe the laughter went to other places, to people who needed it, and now it's time for laughter of one's own, to have and to hold forever.
ReplyDeleteAn unfortunate circumstance of being human. People change, (even those who claim they haven't) and sometimes growth goes in opposite directions. If you can hang on to the good times, and let the bad go, then it's a chapter in your life worth celebrating. Loved this write, and once again, the perfect picture to accompany it. So enjoy my visits here, even when the subject is one so serious. Bravo, once again James, and my apologies for not getting to comment sooner. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a loss we never truly get over....there is always something to reminds us....thank you James...bkm
ReplyDeleteHeartfelt indeed!
ReplyDeleteVery intense n close to reality.. :)
Thanks for commenting at my post.. much appreciated.
Hugs xox
It is sad if love gets lost due to a moment, and it is a very hard place to be in too! Nicely versed!
ReplyDeleteMy Post Is Here