autumn leaves are still curled
in breasts of maple trees,
dewy wet from yesterday’s downpour
black crows circle outside patio,
eyes on wayward crumbs from grill,
hovering our conversation:
accident, coma
we sit like windmills, unmoving,
as the sun bristles our skin,
fragile glass on
crumpled napkins,
we swallow down our throats:
mother's fears
picture credit: Posted for D'verse Poets Pub: Symbolism
and Flash Fiction Friday - Tell a story in 55 words - For the G-man.
We received the sad news this morning that our colleague's daughter died after being in coma due to a car accident. She was a young woman,full of promise. How fragile life is ~
Wishing you happy day and blessed weekend.
Very tragic, especially as she was so young too. Life is very fragile.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful write Heaven.
we sit like windmills...great line grace...esp when you add the unmoving part....ugh...a kid hurt (from the mothers fears) is scary...we had a kid at school hit by a car on his bike...he's been in a coma for a month now...
ReplyDeleteFragile and Fleeting!!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful..Morose...Powerful.
You write with the very best of them Grace.
Loved your 55.
Thanks for this little heart-tugger, You are a treasure!
Have a Kick Ass Week-End
You never know when your time is up, one simple turn and all could be done, sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteLovely write... Everyday, there is a example why life is so precious...
ReplyDeletePeace be still for the lost soul...
So sad, but a beautiful write, nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteYou've captured the true essence of horrible news... scattered crumbs, still as windmills... and I especially like the last verse.
ReplyDeleteSo powerful... the image of windmills not moving... what I saw what how windmills remain in one spot, seemingly unmoving, yet turning turning turning in the wind, much like the movement inside when sad news is heard... And this coming after the first stanza, the image of "autumn leaves are still curled /in breasts of maple trees" lending me a sense of safety... it startled me much like the terrible news. I really liked this.
ReplyDeleteYes, we swallow down mother's fears. So sad, Heaven. The news no mother wants to hear.
ReplyDeleteVivid imagery. I'm not a poet, but I enjoyed the emotion. Very sad poem.
ReplyDelete.........dhole
we sit like windmills, unmoving,
ReplyDeletesigh1 such beauty in this imagery .. love the tumbling emotions here ..
The use of the season goes well with the tragedy of her loss.
ReplyDeleteSuch a poignant piece, the fear we all have as parents. This young lady and her family will be in my prayers.
ReplyDeletehttp://rnsane.blogspot.in/2012/09/the-skies-of-jaipur-at-dusk-friday.html
I'm so sorry to hear that. My son died at birth and my niece died at age 16, they were both born with a single chamber heart. My prayers go out to these parents.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletethe sitting like windmills is a gorgeous image for expressing the motionless terror that captures us in such moments...sorry to hear about your colleagues's daughter...so tough...
ReplyDeleteOh, ouch. You set and tell this sadness so beautifully.
ReplyDeletewe sit like windmills, unmoving,
ReplyDeleteas the sun bristles our skin,
fragile glass on
crumpled napkins,
we swallow down our throats:
mother's fears
This kind of writing makes me sigh the best kind of sigh... lovely.
You pictured it so well.....really sad ......so fragile..wonderful lines...
ReplyDeleteThat's how dignified the trees treat the advent of Autumn. They take their time at a leisurely pace to shed. Even the black crows give them space! Nicely Heaven!
ReplyDeleteHank
Yes, fragile and fleeting sums it up exactly. You have caught it exactly. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, grace
ReplyDeleteThe still windmill is a great metaphor
Peace n love
Rick
My heartfelt prayers go out to you and to the family - so sorry, Heaven.
ReplyDeleteit would be lovely, sometimes, being a silent windmill.
ReplyDeletePS sorry to hear about the tragic death :( Life is rarely fair in these dark times..
Deletesad... so sad... love the depth you went to pen this piece... your lines remind us to stop and example the crumple napkin
ReplyDeleteA strong sense of that sadness here in the random incidents of time, crows' circles, crumbs. k.
ReplyDeletei'm sorry.
ReplyDeletethis is beautiful, and it makes me yearn for fall.
This is beautiful poetry. It invited a reading on several levels of interpretation. That this piece was inspired by a tragic event shows your depth of humanity.
ReplyDeleteThis is harsh and beautiful in ways I haven't yet digested. I'll be back for more.
ReplyDeletesad news...your words and the image convey the same.
ReplyDeleteHow devastating. My heart is with the family and you. After a tragedy like this we are usually left stunned. That's what I hear in your words, as you sit in your patio. So sad.
ReplyDeleteYou've taken a tragic event and turned it into a beautiful poem. The stunned silence as the world moves forward. Really a mother's worst fear.
ReplyDeleteYou've created the poignant mood so appropriate to the tragic loss. Love the nature symbolism you chose to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad!
ReplyDeletePunched me in the stomach.....so sad...but how beautifully you express the emotion....I'm still feeling this be now.....damn.....this is maybe one of the most important functions of poetry...expression and understanding?..seriously...this wrecked me
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely comments Stu ~ I hope you have a wonderful weekend ~
DeleteNo autumn for the young lady... plucked to soon from the breast of life! Oh, this is moving and you captured the stunned emotions so well. So very sorry.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be recurrent theme in writers' online communities tonight - life's transiency.
ReplyDeleteyou convey the sadness well. 'Pray the family heal well.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for this tragic loss. Your poem is lovely nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteMay she rest in peace. I pray for peace of heart and peace of mind for her family.
ReplyDeleteto lose a child is the worst fear of a mother, and I guess all mothers suffer this nightmare...
ReplyDeletegreat write!