Thursday 27 January 2011

January

January arrives
and coats us,
like a heavy snowfall,
 with a blanket of depression and trepidation
that we must push aside
or trudge through
 by any means possible;
Like a suffocating smog
 it clouds our aspirations and resolutions,
strangely reminding us of our mortality and self-worth.
Fond moments of previous years
 often surface as we evaluate
and vow to change things
 we are unhappy with.
Will it be this year that our life improves
or will we feel the same
and live the same existence for another year?
Each morning`s darkness weighs heavily on us
 as we
reluctantly force ourselves from our warm duvets
into the chilled home
 that only last night toasted us
like marshmallows on a roaring open fire.
Hoping the day ahead brings warmth and contentment,
thoughts of stark reality creep forever forward
reminding us,
 with the click of the light switch,
of our true existence.
Shortened dark days,
characterizing the season,
so grey, without real light,
failing to lift us,
 inspire or motivate us in any way
strangely and significantly
 seem to last forever,
day after day, day after day,
 and still no sun to lighten our hearts,
To give us hope,
 to make us want to reach for the curtains
to want to see what the world has in store for us.
To inspire us
and help us see and feel that there is a future;
that our lives will not always be so cheerless and clouded. 






Monday 24 January 2011

"Goodbye Mum" x

A friend commissioned me to pen a poem symbolising her devastating sorrow and distress at losing her beloved mother.  I had witnessed their closeness for several years and thought deeply about how my friend must be feeling at such a sad time in her life.  Metaphorically I put myself in her place and wrote as if she were my mother and it was my heart that was swollen with overwhelming sorrow.


I want to hold somebody`s hand, someone I knew so well
I want to feel her next to me, her closeness and her smell
I want to laugh and joke with her, to hear her voice once more
I want her to know I love her and need her even more.
I want to celebrate her life, enjoy each memory
Praise her for her strength in life, for taking care of me
For loving my three children, for giving life to me
I want to feel her warmth again, her endless energy.
I want to share her laughter the way we used to do
To joke and have more happy times – to whisper "I love you"
I want to tell my mother how proud I`ll always feel
That she gave us such memories and love that was so real.
I want to be my mother`s child – to hold her close to me
To kiss her cheek so tenderly, the way she did with me
I`m so proud to be her daughter – I hope she was of me

"Goodbye" Dear Mum – I Love You
with me you`ll always be.