The Loss (An Original Poem)
sea of life is tossed,
if I could, I would
right it at any cost,
your faithful servant is
becoming a tyrannical boss,
and we must find a way
to embrace the loss
you were Superman,
and I looked up and held
your rough, strong hand,
now our memories are
slipping like hourglass sand,
and we must somehow find
the strength to stand
for a life lived so deep,
for the great courage to
love and laugh and weep,
your memory will be locked
inside our hearts to keep,
drawn from dawn to dawn
then cradled fast asleep
there is much joy and pain,
as we’re all traveling
back from whence we came,
in humble weakness
there is no shame,
each loss we must bare
is worth the gain.
A little about this poem: I’ve written here on Steemit about my father before. He has always been my hero. He fought against extreme poverty and survived the corrupt foster care system in the 1940’s. Against all the odds, he grew up to be a productive, highly intelligent, resourceful, caring, (and hilarious) person. Recently, my father’s memory has been failing him. There’s no diagnosis yet, but there will be very soon.
For the past week I’ve been contemplating how much loss there is in life, especially in middle age. I’ve also been thinking about positive ways to process and deal with those emotions.
After reading the words “the loss” in a text yesterday, this poem came to me. As my poetry most often does, the stanzas were a little “fuzzy around the edges” but the concept of the piece was complete. The creative process or “flow state” never ceases to amaze me and will always a welcomed visitor. I hope you enjoyed this poem, it was incredibly therapeutic to write.
I'm such a firm believer in the perennial words of Alfred Lord Tennyson, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
Have a great weekend, Steemians!
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and Steemit enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my poetry, autographed copies of my handmade poetry chapbooks, Emancipation, and The Greatest of Secrets are for sale now on Peerhub for a limited time.
The grinding process of letting be of memories and things people try to let go off or simply get rid of is often a difficult process, so many emotions are attached to it all...
Our times shared on the shores by the river of life ineluctably carry us forth not unlike the currents of the ocean. Keeping an focussed handle on the rudder of it is pretty much all we can do. Training in easier times makes the storms easier to handle when one becomes tested of real. Accepting the walk along its shores is one things, leaning to navigates its currents another. Yet, as we enter this life, the game is on and there's no turning back.
Luckily, we aren't coming here alone and this community of caring individuals around us is here to support us when we feel like giving up on others but, even more importantly, when we give up on ourselves. It tough times such as these, it is with tender compassion that I want to offer truth and my warm support in light. The double-entente saying "Strength is within us all" is shared with you here, now. I feel for you and your family. There's a saying in French, in Quebec where we say "It is worth the pain." ("Ça vaut la peine.") meaning that if we take the opportunity to participate into something, as painful as it might be, it is nevertheless worthwhile. You poem underlines some of the great value of living this life, thank you for sharing this truth with us all.
Many blessings to you all. (((HUG))) Namaste :)
Wow, @eric-boucher. Thank you. You pegged it.
"Training in easier times makes the storms easier to handle when one becomes tested of real."
The exercises relating to "Letting go"seem crazy to most of the ones living in the hopes of acquiring more or simply wish to have more powers to have more. If they only knew the weight it has at the moment of death! Loving is our only sustainable worthwhile option in relation to living life and doesn't prevent one form the pains and major heartaches brought by the onslaught of passing over.
The practice of letting go of our emotions as they come by is easily visualized through many different forms of meditations. Yet, the depth of love and being love makes the experience excruciating, especially if we aren't aware of the continuity of life and its persistence through the cycle of life-death-life and so on. Some of of the main goals of mediations points to the upbringing of an experience of bliss where the body is but a vessel. Upon reaching this level, it is not a matter of faith more than a matter of experiential knowledge that sustains us peacefully through what seems to be the ups and downs of life.
Blessings brother, namaste :)
Thank you so much for that reminder, @eric-boucher. We are all but waves of the same sea.
I am in awe that a simple combination of two words can inspire such a beautiful masterpiece.
Thank you, Johanna! That's how it happens. The words were like a key that unlocked the poem.
Teach me poem! I love it.
Thank you!
This is beautiful Eric. It felt therapeutic reading it, and I could see a few friends sitting in a living room as you honored your father. I am waiting to hear the diagnosis for your dad. Have a blessed weekend my friend.
Thank you very much!
Very beautiful story and poem.
Thank you!
Your Dad sounds like a good man, with an incredible journey. And with patience, understanding and much love, you will all come out the other side stronger in your devotion to each other. All the best, my friend...
Thank you, @macksby. He's one of the strongest people I've ever met. He's the kind of guy who could've been dropped in the middle of nowhere and would have not only survived but prospered. The child/parent roles are quickly changing. It's strange.
beautiful words and so true and wow, I'm so sorry about your father...
Much appreciated, friend. He's a fighter. I know whatever the outcome he'll try his best.
I have no doubt, Eric.
Very beautiful and so so meaningful.
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
Thank you, @kus-knee!
Lovely poem. i feel for you and what you are going through.
I would like to share a quote from Meher Baba:
... The universe is, in itself, nothing but imagination. There is, in fact, only one indivisible and eternal reality, and it has neither beginning nor end. It is beyond time.
From the point of view of this timeless reality, the whole time process is purely imaginary, and billions of years which have passed, and billions of years which are to pass, do not have even the value of a second. They are like not having existed at all.
1939? Di v1 p26
Thank you so much for the wise words, @lakshmi!
the love of our parents is indeed unconditional. Your poem just said something raw and real. This is a good message for sons and daughters who may have not found much time for their parents.
Thanks for your comment! It would be an awful regret to have. You never get the time back.