Albums from my shelf stare at me-
Don’t take them down, my heart screams.
My hand reaches up, my soul wanting to see
the sweet face of my baby, the glimmer of the tree.
Presents piled high-touching the limbs.
Pictures of lots of kids, lots of different trees.
The tears I knew would come, fall down my cheek,
In a quiet house, my oldest ones all grown,
Families of their own, their houses now with those
glimmering trees, those piles of presents.
And my baby, the baby from those days, gone.
I visit his grave, decorate it like a table in the den.
I cry there, with his younger brother with me.
Not even born when those pictures were made.
I made the cookies, wrapped a few gifts, got cards.
I went on the church outing, held my tears, my breath.
Christmas, it was so wonderful, hope, peace, love.
I knew better than to believe it would last for me.
I need to get a new album, this one is falling apart.
Like my life did. Tears fall as I replace it on the shelf.
I will try to do better next time. Well, if you want to try it- here are the rules-
In cascade poems, the lines from the first stanza becomes the final lines of each stanza afterward.
For e.g.- The first line of the first stanza of this poem, I wrote, is the last line of the second stanza. The second line of the first stanza is the last line of the third stanza and the third line of the first stanza is the last line of the fourth stanza.
“my heart grieves” she says
and i ask
“why does your heart grieve?”
she answered
“because i know that the love
we used to share has died…it seems
all that’s left in its place is the memory
of how it used to be…a memory
of how it used to feel…”
and the only answer i could
give her was my silence
and a guilty stare into the space
past her…but then i took her hand in mine
and felt her fingers in between
the spaces of my own…it didn’t feel the same…
and i said
“indeed…the love we once shared
has died…buried beneath
painful memories and broken promises…”
she looked at me and i looked away
to hide the tears…and the silence
that followed became our last “goodbye”…
