Dora is hosting the first Poetics challenge of the New Year .. Inspired by the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, 1911 - 1979. Dora asks us to incorporate Bishop's unique style in original poems of our own.
One year
split cleanly in two, your absence
marked on our calendar
like a shoreline retreating
each month, a shift ~ erosion the boys and I
stepped around, pretending
the earth beneath was steady
At home our three sons grew taller, increments
measured on our kitchen door frame
pencil marks rising like tides
I carried our daughter those first six months
her heartbeat like a persistent
tapping ~ morse code against the war
you were trying to outlive
You sent letters, one each day, 365 in total
describing tropical heat and humidity
the endless unraveling of bodies
how much you loved and missed us
I read each letter as if it might detonate
as if danger could travel through ink
[ later, we bound them in a pretty blue book ]
A letter every day. That is true love. Beautiful, Helen. I am glad he returned home safely and that you put the letters in a book to keep.
ReplyDelete"our calendar/like a shoreline retreating. . .pretending/ the earth beneath was steady" -- What a troubled and uncertain time to walk through, Helen, that the earth, life itself didn't feel as firm as it used to! You describe it so well, its paradoxes, and the lines just prior to the last preparing us for the worst we think, only to heave a sigh of sweet relief. Love -- life -- prevailed. Hallelujah!
ReplyDeleteThere perils of the home front are usually backburnered to those far away on the front lines, but here it's clear that a daily dispatch - written lovingly and earnestly -- can still tick ominously. You hide the tension in domestic ordinaries, making the sweat all the more dire.
ReplyDeleteA really great poem, Helen. I am sure that must have been a traumatic time for you and pregnant to boot! Well done.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem, Helen!
ReplyDeleteOh my heart, this is incredibly poignant, Helen. I am especially moved by these lines; "your absence marked on our calendar like a shoreline retreating each month." ❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteWow, Helen, this is a most emotion filled and beautiful poem. Robbie
ReplyDeleteYou capture that terrible time perfectly, Helen, I think Bishop's criteria have focussed us all on the task of poesie. Particularly loved
ReplyDelete"tapping ~ morse code against the war
you were trying to outlive"
and
"the endless unraveling of bodies
[...]
I read each letter as if it might detonate"
as if danger could travel through ink
"the endless unraveling of bodies',
ReplyDelete"each month, a shift ~ erosion the boys and I
stepped around, pretending
the earth beneath was steady"
Wow! Heartfelt poem, Helen. I love that you received a letter each day.