When Death Must Come at Christmastime

May 28, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is grief in honor of those who have died of Covid-19 and of Memorial Day, which is celebrated in the U.S. on May 25^th.

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

A poem about the special kind of grief when a loved one dies at Christmastime:

When death must come at Christmastime,

There is a special grief,

A mourning that must mix with joy,

A pain that must be brief.

There is an anguish underneath

The labyrinth of light

That longs for simple emptiness

To contemplate the night.

But life must bubble on its way

And pleasure be put on,

For neither sorrow nor delight

Is ever left alone.

And, like the Virgin, we must smile

With enigmatic grace

As we receive the fragile gift

That nothing can replace.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/whende.html. For more poems about death, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Grief

May 25: Early On, There’s a Point to Regret

May 26: Matthew Is Gone and Will Never Be Back

May 27: You Were for Us Not Only Love, but Bread

May 28: When Death Must Come at Christmastime

You Were for Us Not only Love, but Bread

May 27, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is grief in honor of those who have died of Covid-19 and of Memorial Day, which is celebrated in the U.S. on May 25^th.

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

A poem about what happens to grief when the deceased loved one was the only breadwinner of the family:

You were for us not only love, but bread,

Our source of sustenance as well as joy.

Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

We must content ourselves with what we beg,

The bitter gifts no kindness can alloy.

You were for us not only love, but bread.

We miss you, but our hearts have turned to lead.

We cannot one sweet pang of pain enjoy.

Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

Nor have we any tears that we might shed

For you, nor thoughts that might grief buoy.

You were for us not only love, but bread,

And so there are no dreams of you in bed,

Nor memories with which my mind might toy.

Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

No room, no room, but emptiness instead,

A need that does all other need destroy.

You were for us not only love, but bread.

Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/youwe2.html. For more poems about death, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Grief

May 25: Early On, There’s a Point to Regret

May 26: Matthew Is Gone and Will Never Be Back

May 27: You Were for Us Not Only Love, but Bread

Matthew Is Gone and Will Never Be Back

May 26, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is grief in honor of those who have died of Covid-19 and of Memorial Day, which is celebrated in the U.S. on May 25^th.

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

A name poem about the relationship between the beauty of love and grief:

Matthew is gone and will never be back.

Although we all loved him, we'll see him no more.

The beauty of love leads to anguish at death,

The fear and the hunger the price of each breath,

Held like a gift that has loss at its core.

Each day without Matthew is filled with our lack,

Winds from the sea that make grief sing and soar.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/matth2.html. For more poems about death, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Grief

May 25: Early On, There’s a Point to Regret

May 26: Matthew Is Gone and Will Never Be Back

Early On, There's a Point to Regret

May 25, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is grief in honor of those who have died of Covid-19 and of Memorial Day, which is celebrated in the U.S. on May 25^th.

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

A number poem about grief and regret:

Early on, there's a point to regret:

In creative pain, one can make changes.

Grief is a wild, foolish, helpless rebellion,

Heart against stone, desire smashing against

The locked fact, the impenetrable event,

Yielding nothing but the wash back into life.

For one who grieves, there's no point to regret:

One lives through pain, it's not a time for changes,

Undoing in one's heart what one must accept in life,

Repositioning the precise stones one smashes and smashes against.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/early.html. For more poems about death, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Grief

May 25: Early On, There’s a Point to Regret

Margarita Is an Angel

May 24, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is angels.

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

A name poem imagining what might happen to a recently deceased person who becomes an angel:

Margarita is an angel,

Awakening as life recedes,

Riding high the Lenten light.

Grace abounds both day and night,

Alive in those who know their needs,

Restoring joy to those who tremble.

In death she dons the angel's mantle,

Touching love that weeps and bleeds,

As in life she found delight.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/marga2.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

May 18: To Angels, Time Is like a Movie

May 19: Sing as Though a Choir of Angels Near

May 20: Harpies Are But Angels Who Are Harried

May 21: Angels Have No ID Bracelets on Them

May 22: Given Angel’s Wings, Where Might You Fly

May 23: To Be an Angel, One Need Not Have Wings

May 24: Margarita Is an Angel

To Be an Angel, One Need Not Have Wings

May 23, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is angels.

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

A name poem about what one needs to be an angel:

To be an angel, one need not have wings.

In giving love there is an equal grace.

Nor need one seek the aura in the face,

As love unveils the beauty of all things.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/tobean.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

May 18: To Angels, Time Is like a Movie

May 19: Sing as Though a Choir of Angels Near

May 20: Harpies Are But Angels Who Are Harried

May 21: Angels Have No ID Bracelets on Them

May 22: Given Angel’s Wings, Where Might You Fly

May 23: To Be an Angel, One Need Not Have Wings

Given Angel's Wings, Where Might You Fly

May 22, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is angels.

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

A name poem imagining what it might be like to be like an angel:

Given angel's wings, where might you fly?

In what sweet heaven might you find your love?

Unwilling to be bound, where might you move,

Lost between the wonder and the why?

If you were but a flame of pure desire,

A light so lovely you could not be seen,

Near mad with yearning, yet somehow serene,

And that were all, what more might you require?

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/givena.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

May 18: To Angels, Time Is like a Movie

May 19: Sing as Though a Choir of Angels Near

May 20: Harpies Are But Angels Who Are Harried

May 21: Angels Have No ID Bracelets on Them

May 22: Given Angel’s Wings, Where Might You Fly