"The ending swallows the beginning's tale."
- John Hollander, "Kinneret"



Burden and Gift

When I die, my grandparents will die
A second and even more final death,
No longer held in the living memory
Of any they once had held and loved.

No one then will seek out the ground
They long ago went into, their names
Forever silent on the weathered stones.
How soon the earth healed over them.

This the burden and gift my grandchildren
Do not yet know will be asked of them:
To take to the darkness they will come to
The last of love and light of me.




Poetry by countryfog
Read 371 times
Written on 2010-12-13 at 14:18

dott Save as a bookmark (requires login)
dott Write a comment (requires login)
dott Send as email (requires login)
dott Print text


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
I've been thinking the same thing since my dad died last year. The final quatrain of this poem is magical. You just can't write any better than that.
2010-12-19



Intricately convoluted for so short a poem... a gem that has to be unwrapped in layers and parallaxes. And that can be a very good thing too.
2010-12-16


John Ashleigh
An interesting poem, and very heart felt. Thankyou for writing this!

Regards,
John.
2010-12-14


ngaio Beck
Gives one pause. Kind of sad,but well thought out.
2010-12-13