May 21, 2009 #533
Dear Subscriber:
This week’s poem of the week is a Memorial Day poem.
You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week." You can also cast a vote for it to boost its popularity on Yahoo Buzz.
You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.
Yours,
Nick Gordon
Maybe grief needs ritual, as music
Embraces rules that turn sound into song.
Maybe if one trusts that one won't lose it,
One can turn away, though grief be strong.
Reserve, then, days for rituals of mourning
In which one may allow the flood of grief
Again to inundate the heart, restoring
Life to deserts thirsting for relief.
Dance depends on choreography
As pain declares its sovereign right to be,
Yet performs with grace restrained and brief.
© by Nicholas Gordon
Thursday, May 21, 2009
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1 comment:
Thank you for your poem. Its message resonated on a deep level with me. I listened to a public radio program about the history of Memorial Day. At one time it was called Decoration Day and people gathered at the cemeteries adorning the graves of their loved ones who had died during war. I love the idea of decoration day and although I have deep respect for those that have died in battle, I also know that there are many connections to each grave in a cemetery. A couple of years ago I would have considered the flowers, the trinkets adorning graves to be tacky, but not anymore since I buried my son. Now I have joined those who go to the grave to decorate, commemorate and show their love and care for a loved one. Our need for ritual is deep and in the US our culture seems to be deficient in ritual and so we create our own. Rituals help keep our connection to loved one alive, give us a safe place in which to grieve so that we can continue to function in this world as we think of our loved one just beyond our sight.
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