NaPoMo poem #17 & #17-A
This is a pair of poems I offer for the seventeenth day here in April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.
These two works, though written separately, have revealed themselves to be joined as bookends of emotion — the piercing ache of separation, and the bittersweet tenderness of eternal longing.
• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.
Gone
•
turning to leave
you cover the distance
to the door
in a few heartbroken steps
you look back
I will miss you
in your eyes
you hold my gaze
as if to speak
nothing is said
you lower your eyes
turn your head
step through the door
and are gone
• • •
A Leaf
•
sitting
I watch a leaf
fall from a tree
forever parted
the evening light
settles soft on my face
my eyes
fix on the far horizon
a tear
warms my cheek
you have never left my heart
• • •
both poems by: rob kistner © 2009
___________________________
• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem
Great! Sad and powerful and leaves me kind of aching at the end, as if she was gone from me too.
I read both as one entity. Eternal feeling of longing, parting, love….aching love..
Nothing said doesn’t mean nothing felt. You show this so well.
I was captivated by the image of the leaf separated from the tree by falling – something commonplace but looked at in a new way.
I read both of these earlier today and was coming back to comment.
The two really do flow together, as if they were one poem. The leaf falling from the tree captures so well that moment of loss, when you realize there’s no turning back.
Those words that are read on the expression and not spoken…most powerful.
Hi Rob,
I like Gone. I like these lines:
“you cover the distance
to the door
in a few heartbroken steps”
Thanks for the comment on my poem, I’m glad you liked it.
Yes, they go together so well and could really be one poem. I agree about the leaf; it anchors the two poems!
Oh! You made me cry! LOL
http://lori102870.blogspot.com/2009/04/in-your-absencenapowrimo-17-part-2by-me.html
Nice
sometimes simple says it best…nice work!
You’re right, these two poems are very much connected. I enjoyed them both, I know the pain of watching someone leave and the joy of realizing that I still hold them in my heart! Thank yo for sharing your work and visiting my blog!
Both of these poems have such a tenderness to them. I like the contrast between a person-centered poem and a nature-centered one.