You were always inclined to denial.
How well we all knew that stare
looking coldly a little way past us
or into some internal distance,
that vaguing of eyes and voice.
During the day of your dying, I discovered
I had it too, the same inclination.
An inheritance, perhaps?
I walked and I talked in a sort of trance.
This is not happening, I thought. But it did.
[Poem #1]
This began as a game some bloggers played in 2008, to write about people who'd made an impact, in the same number of words as one's age, every day for a year. I did them less often and went on longer, adding one word each birthday. I stopped in 2016 and incorporated them into my main poetry blog. In 2019 I resumed the project and gave it its own blog again, with a new name, where it may unfold at its own (slow, intermittent) pace. I've labelled these verse portraits, but they're more like quick sketches: mere glimpses, impressions....
Comments from original posting:
ReplyDeleteBev Sykes 14 July 2008 at 02:41
I am impressed with your putting your comments in verse. Delightfully different!
And at 68/365, I gather there is finally someone older than myself doing this!
Rosemary Nissen-Wade 14 July 2008 at 10:41
Poetry's my favourite form of expression, so I just naturally do it this way - not even a decision!
Being older gives one the advantage of a few more words to play with. :)
Bev Sykes 19 July 2008 at 08:32
Yes, there are some perks to being older! And you get 3 more words than I do.
I've been looking at your bio and other links here. I visited Australia in 2003, on a 6 week "walkabout" (not really) with a friend in Perth. Saw a lot of WA and fell in love with your country.
Rosemary Nissen-Wade 19 July 2008 at 10:12
Well well, I was in Perth in 2003 - but it was at the start of the year.
Didn't get to Margaret River though. (Yes I have been having a squizz at your links too.) Normally I am on the east coast.
Only spent a few hours in SF (1998) but thought it was gorgeous!
Bev Sykes 19 July 2008 at 17:32
If you ever get back to SF, let me know. I'm a great tour guide!
Rosemary Nissen-Wade 19 July 2008 at 18:07
Thanks! It seems unlikely, but you never know. :)