Thank you for your poem. As I often say, "grief is the presence of an absence, a formless pain, someone who silently insists on staying." Your poem captures that beautifully: the anguish of the one who remains, confronted by the presence—taking the form of pain—of the one who chose to leave.
What remains are fragments, pieces of life that still seem alive, fragments of the past that are, in reality, part of the present, and a future that is impossible to imagine without the absent one. There is no peace while the echoes of their footsteps still resound through the room.
The poem arrives in its time, decoding the edge of something difficult to track. It leaves is own residue, for some reason I am grateful to recognize that residue. It is a surprising serendipitous moment. Thank you 🙏🏾
Thank you for restacking this poem, @Maureen Susannah
Thank you for the restack, @Tinabeth Chapman
Thank you, @Lique, for sharing this poem.
Thanks for the restack, @Jane Deegan
You're welcome!
My thanks to @Maureen Doallas for sharing this poem.
Thank you for this restack, @SammyD
Thank you, Diane & @Blue Citizen 77 for this restack 💙💙
Thank you for this restack, @Portia
This one too put something in my eye…🥹
Even after a relationship has ended there can still be unresolved issues that didn’t end with it.
Tell me about it, but it takes someone like you to finally see them clearly and, possibly, tackle them.
Thanks for the restack, @Earl Nobdy
You're right, Paul, relationships don't just end cleanly and neatly, and that's it. There's the whole aftermath or afterlife to deal with:
("the way everything continues without permission")
even though both parties have to do this alone. This is another starkly real and honest poem.
And we keep talking about them as if they’re still going on somewhere, in another room, in that life of which we are no longer a part.
Thank you for your comments, Martin.
Great and sad poem ,Paul . Yet I am sure we all go through that one way or another . Peace to you
Thank you for reading and commenting, Mitch—I appreciate it!
Thank you for your poem. As I often say, "grief is the presence of an absence, a formless pain, someone who silently insists on staying." Your poem captures that beautifully: the anguish of the one who remains, confronted by the presence—taking the form of pain—of the one who chose to leave.
What remains are fragments, pieces of life that still seem alive, fragments of the past that are, in reality, part of the present, and a future that is impossible to imagine without the absent one. There is no peace while the echoes of their footsteps still resound through the room.
Perhaps grief is only love that is never or can’t be finished.
Thank you, Rolando, for sharing your thoughts on this poem.
My pleasure Paul. Grief has multiple faces. One is what you mention
Or perhaps grief is love that has lost its address. Thank you, Rolando
The poem arrives in its time, decoding the edge of something difficult to track. It leaves is own residue, for some reason I am grateful to recognize that residue. It is a surprising serendipitous moment. Thank you 🙏🏾
Thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts on this poem, Ms. JP.
Thank you for the poem🙏🏾and the sharing of it. It gave me a beautiful moment. I enjoyed that.
You are so welcome, Ms. JP
Brilliant Paul
Thank you for reading and commenting, Simone. In the speaker's mind, the relationship still goes on at some level, even after it has ended.
Yes, it is very clever Paul, l do really enjoy your poetry, how you express what is common to our human experience 😊
Am in line at the pharmacy- imagine the people near me wondering why my eyes are shining..
But no on reaches out, do they?
no one .. but i shouldn’t have been reading your poetry after all..
Of course you can read poetry in the pharmacy line. I think it’s still allowed.
😊
It might turn out to be just what the doctor ordered 😊
xx
This stirred something dormant
in my soul.
What a wonderful comment to read. Thank you, Jackie.