my husband is dead and it’s lonely now
\n though still i enjoy the bright
\nsun in my morning kitchen where i
\n sit and drink coffee and remember.
\nthe kids are gone off with their own
\n lives and don’t need me anymore
\nthough once i thought i could still teach them
\n a thing or two.
\nbut now i’m only unfashionable, even embarrassing.
\n people are so young now.
\nthey are all so busy with things
\n i don’t understand, the world
\nconfusing and forgetting things that were important.
\n my friends have all died or moved away.<\/p>\n
i wonder sometimes who would notice
\nif i were to vanish, how long
\n it would take anyone to tell
\nthe difference. we all sleep and eat
\n and listen and watch and remember and
\ndream but only some of us make
\n a difference to others. i don’t
\nthink i make a difference. who will
\n remember me when i’m gone? how long
\nwill any of us be remembered? comfort
\n can seem so fragile. i’m not so sure
\nof the things i believed when i was younger.
\n when i die and have been gone ten
\nthousand years –! how could anything i’ve
\n done made any difference?… ultimately
\nit is all pointless.<\/p>\n
ah, but it can’t end now. or i’ll never find out
\nif mrs. hielmann’s daughter downstairs marries
\nthat nice young man
\n of if the petunias i potted
\ncome up next spring
\n or how my programs ever come out.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I didn’t write anguished poetry as a teenager, like most people do; I wrote anguished poetry in my 20s. I was a late-bloomer. I’ve been inventorying my file cabinets, the past couple days. I have piles of this stuff. After nearly 40 years, this one strikes me as not half bad. It makes a point. I’d been reading e.e. cummings.<\/p>\n
I’m tickled by the line, “people are so young now”.<\/p>\n
Also, WordPress doesn’t like blank spaces, or many returns; I had to manually insert nbsp and break characters, for this spacing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
my husband is dead and it’s lonely now though still i enjoy the bright sun in my morning kitchen where i sit and drink coffee and remember. the kids are gone off with their own lives and … Continue reading