Details

I cannot remember the color of my mother’s eyes
But I can still see the contour of her nose,
and how her smile suited her face so well
I am grateful for these spare mercies loss affords

Who thinks to sit with a loved one,
to make detailed notes of their appearance?
Blue eyes? Or were they more blue/green?
They’ll always be there, no need to write it down
No one told me how important these details would become

With time always chafing at the edges of memories,
static images in photographs don’t seem to help keep them in place
All the details I need to be there seem to be getting less clear
They say time’s passage heals wounds
Ha! Time doesn’t give a damn about rules, I say!

The more the little details fade, from the thievery of passing days,
makes the wounds more resistant to becoming scars
preventing me from taking the bandages off

About This Poem

Last Few Words: Still processing melancholia from my mother's passing several years ago - this seemed to help capture it for me. Anyone else feel that fading memories of certain details make the grief harder to let pass? Maybe just me?

Review Request Direction: What did you think of my title?
What did you think of the rhythm or pattern or pacing?
Is the internal logic consistent?

Review Request Intensity: I appreciate moderate constructive criticism

Editing Stage: Editing - polished draft

About the Author

Region, Country: San Francisco Bay Area - USA, USA

Favorite Poets: Bukowski

This user supports Neopoet so it can be free to all

Comments

Very touching T. I completely

Very touching T. I completely understand what you shared about dealing with your mother's passing. And yes, 36 is a young age to lose a parent - it forces us to live with the pain so much longer than we reasonably expect to.

My mother was an artist, so we are blessed with many of the wonderful works she left behind - my most cherished possessions really. I prefer to look at her art rather than her pictures because there is so much more of her there than in an image on paper (or digitally, as the case may be in these modern times, of course).

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Our mother...

is not an artist, unless you count the family that she has crafted, [eight of us] plus, the wives and husbands and grandchildren that she assimilated into a family that will share memories enduring for a few generations yet. The youngest of the grandchildren will not have those memories, but they will get to see the pictures of her celebrating her life with us. She has always been there for the big celebrations and when she is gone... I feel a little differently about the passing of our mother.
She is in constant pain from her arthritis and cannot walk, she has expressed the wish that we not make extraordinary attempts to prolong her life, in the event of her passing. I guess maybe, I feel a bit differently than my younger siblings; because I am old enough to have many health issues myself and understand the frustrations of not being able to do the things that I did when I was still healthy. I will mourn her only in the respect that I, will be bereft of her presence. You have written a great tribute to your mother and all mothers everywhere. ~ Geez.
.

Thanks for sharing your

Thanks for sharing your thought on this topic Geez! My mother suffered from a number of ailments too, but she was not ready to go. It was very sudden and unexpected. The things I have the hardest time with are that I cannot remember our last conversation, and I didn't get to say goodbye. Poetry helps me to process my feelings, and it seems to help others find a small bit of comfort as well. I'll take it!

Be well.

Best

That is rough T -

That is rough T - heartbreaking to be sure. I don't mind you sharing your thoughts on this difficult topic at all. It helps us to know we are not alone in our grief sometimes.

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I lost my mother, too

I had the blessing/curse of knowing she was dying. Of all the losses, I feel the loss of the memory of voice is the hardest. I have saved voicemails and have a tape recording of her speaking to me. They are not quite the same as the real thing but better than nothing. I dread the time I will probably lose those because they won't last forever either.

As for the poem, I think the idea is excellent. It is reading more like prose right now. I am confident that as you continue to process your loss, you will find the best poetic form for your feelings.

Thanks Arrow. I did the exact

Thanks Arrow. I did the exact same thing when my mother passed too - kept VMs, and would call her phone occasionally just to hear her voice, so I completely get you here.

Much of my writing is pretty much hard-over in the prose poetry style, so this is my comfort zone these days. But who knows into what style our writing voices may evolve as we go forward... Appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

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