There Is a Residue of Hope

November 5, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is death, in honor of the transition from Halloween to All Saints’ Day and then to All Souls’ Day, which is the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Today’s poem is to a deceased father about the end of grief.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There is a residue of hope

In every act of grief,

A beauty at the source of pain,

A truth that brings relief.

Mourning is a morning song

Sung just before the light,

Though little else is visible

To those that watch the night.

And all our tears must turn to grass,

And all our sorrows be

But dissonance that we'll resolve

In some new harmony.

And all our pain must shine upon

The meadows of our grace

That you might share our happiness

And lend our light your face.

Ah, Father! Yes, the music plays

As we dance in the sun,

For dawn returns the joy of life,

And we must all dance on.

Ah, Father! Yes, we must dance on

And leave you far behind,

Though love undo the dying day

And comb the rising wind.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/residu.html . For more poems about death, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Death.

October 31: In Memory of Those Who Died

November 1: Here’s a Little Ditty

November 2: I Am the Mirror of Our Love

November 3: I Didn’t Get a Chance to Say Goodbye

November 4: Every Time I See My Pansies

November 5: There Is a Residue of Hope

Every Time I See My Pansies

November 4, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is death, in honor of the transition from Halloween to All Saints’ Day and then to All Souls’ Day, which is the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Today’s poem is about a daughter who remembers her dead mother when she goes into in her garden.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Every time I see my pansies

Vivid in the golden sun,

You are with me in my garden,

And I am once again a child.

Vivid in the golden sun,

Their beauty brings me close to tears,

And I am once again a child

Learning to assume your grace.

Their beauty brings me close to tears

As I join hands with you in love,

Learning to assume your grace,

Dancing to your inner music.

As I join hands with you in love,

You are with me in my garden,

Dancing to your inner music

Every time I see my pansies.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/everyt.html . For more poems about death, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Death.

October 31: In Memory of Those Who Died

November 1: Here’s a Little Ditty

November 2: I Am the Mirror of Our Love

November 3: I Didn’t Get a Chance to Say Goodbye

November 4: Every Time I See My Pansies

I Didn't Get a Chance to Say Goodbye

November 3, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is death, in honor of the transition from Halloween to All Saints’ Day and then to All Souls’ Day, which is the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Today’s poem is from a caregiver to the one he or she cared for.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

I didn't get a chance to say goodbye

To you, to tell you that I loved you, to say

What now must be one long, unbroken cry

Of pain, now that at last you've gone away.

I cannot tell you what a joy it was

To be the one to tend you in your need.

The burden was a gift, for giving does

Not burden one who loves, though loving bleed.

I wish I could have been with you when you,

Perhaps aware, perhaps not, turned towards death

Alone, with no one there to wonder to,

To share your fear, your hand, your one last breath.

I wish, I wish, I wish . . . but it is done,

And now I must surrender what is gone.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/ididn3.html . For more poems about death, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Death.

October 31: In Memory of Those Who Died

November 1: Here’s a Little Ditty

November 2: I Am the Mirror of Our Love

November 3: I Didn’t Get a Chance to Say Goodbye

I Am the Mirror of Our Love

November 2, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is death, in honor of the transition from Halloween to All Saints’ Day and then to All Souls’ Day, which is the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Today’s poem is about the impending death of a pet.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

I am the mirror of our love,

And you its brazen fire.

To me our love is merely joy;

To you it is your breath.

I am the marker that must move;

You, the fixed desire.

You are what I most enjoy;

I am life or death.

And now you must be put to sleep,

And I remain awake

With years of love ahead of me,

And many pets to go.

But I'm the one who can't help weep

While you, just for my sake,

Come rest your chin upon my knee

And beg to share my woe.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/iamth2.html . For more poems about death, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Death.

October 31: In Memory of Those Who Died

November 1: Here’s a Little Ditty

November 2: I Am the Mirror of Our Love

Here's a Little Ditty

November 1, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is death, in honor of the transition from Halloween to All Saints’ Day and then to All Souls’ Day, which is the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Today’s poem is about how one dies again as friends and family die.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Here's a little ditty for

A sailor lost at sea,

An Irishman, most sorely missed

By friends and family.

He'd reached the prime of life when he

Encountered Davy Jones,

And now all that is left of him

Are tears and scattered bones.

He lives in those he left behind,

His loved ones and his mates,

And as they die, he'll die again,

Conjoined with many fates;

Until at last his being, with

A brief, unuttered sigh,

Will yield its presence peacefully,

And bid the world goodbye.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/heresa.html . For more poems about death, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Death.

October 31: In Memory of Those Who Died

November 1: Here’s a Little Ditty

In Memory of Those Who Died

October 31, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is death, in honor of the transition from Halloween to All Saints’ Day and then to All Souls’ Day, which is the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Today’s poem is about the insoluble mystery of death.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

In memory of those who died

We weep and walk away.

Tears run into swollen streams.

No trace of us remains.

Even those who grieve are gone,

And those that grieve who grieve,

And those whose lives are ravaged by

A frantic urge to be,

And those who wander silently

Among the empty rooms:

Immortality is theirs,

Though they must vanish, too.

We bear astonished witness to

The passage of the soul.

No bridge exists that can connect

Our passion to the whole.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/inmemo.html . For more poems about death, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Death.

October 31: In Memory of Those Who Died

Witches Wail and Werewolves Howl

October 30, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is Halloween, which falls on October 31.

Today’s poem is a Halloween poem about how children love scary things.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Witches wail and werewolves howl,

Ghosts say "Boo!" and monsters scowl,

Jack-o-lanterns grin all night

As children shiver with delight.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/witche.html . For more Halloween poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/halloweenpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Halloween.

October 24: Have No Fear of Goblins, Ghosts, and Witches

October 25: Halloween Wraps Fear in Innocence

October 26: Halloween’s a Sudden BOO

October 27: Hobgoblins Say “Hop”

October 28: How Can Normal, Rational People

October 29: How Might a Spirit Settle in the Wind

October 30: Witches Wail and Werewolves Howl