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Poets & Storytellers suggested Legacy
dVerse Poets also have an Open Link night.
Moving Out
I
My mother chose to move out.
When I found her, strangely trussed,
The note said “Do not resuscitate”.
A second note, reflecting her shame,
Apologised for the mess.
But there was none.
Just a hollowness. Gone.
II
I opened her wooden dresser.
Things rattled strangely in the void:
Glasses, crystal, treasured items
From a long and eventful life.
Now just things. Mum’s things.
Slips, her red cardigan, coats,
Woolly hats—they all smelled of her.
III
Three stuffed fabric hearts beside the bed,
Spaced out evenly and labelled:
Dad. Me. Her. And her watch.
Did ghosts lurk in the house?
No. No ghosts. Just memories.
Are memories ghosts? Maybe.
Pieces of her life flicker and shine,
But they are Mum’s sparkle, not mine.
I pack them carefully.
Outside, the birds sing.
◊
This poems says more in what it doesn't say than what it does with the words themselves.
ReplyDeleteTrue. There is much truth in that.
DeleteI agree with Lee. A whole story. A whole lifetime. Devastating. The closing line, a note of hope and healing. So powerful, Cosmo. I'm glad I didnt miss this one.
ReplyDeleteGood to catch up with you again SBS, it has been a while.
DeleteYou just get more and more accomplished! I hope it's fictional. In any case, it's moving and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Alas, not fictional.
DeleteSuch loss and sadness and yet beautifully written so that those who are lost are brought to life - Jae
ReplyDeleteIf only. But life has moved on, a new reality has settled upon me and I am drinking it in. If nothing else, my mother's decision has reinforced the shortness of time.
DeleteWonderful!
ReplyDeleteIt’s one of those pieces, which makes you emotional and you keep remembering all the people who touched your soul.
Yes, they are always there, in the wings.
DeleteA unique way of writing about loss and grief, deeply touching. The second stanza is so poignant, with Mum’s things rattling ‘strangely in the void’. This rhyming couplet made me tearful:
ReplyDelete‘Pieces of her life flicker and shine,
But they are Mum’s sparkle, not mine.’
❤️
DeleteA very nice poignant write Cosmo 👏
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteLoss and Loveliness. Those are the first two words that come to mind afer reading your beautiful poem. So much here.....so thoughtful and calm. A soft grief....a soft remembering. The small details of the slips, her red cardigan, coats and wooly hats. These make her real for your readers as well as you. Just a beautiful poem. Thank you for posting!
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear you read this aloud at our LIVE session on Saturday! We are truly a friendly bunch....think about stopping by!
Thank you Lillian. I know that you do have visitors to LIVE from Australia but I am not at my best in the middle of the night. I just checked, now that daylight saving has finished here and started there it is a 12am start. More social that 2am in summer.
DeleteYour poem is so beautiful and touching. I just love the matter-of-factness of it, how grief sits alongside the everyday doings of life. I agree with everyone's comments above especially Lee's. Those last two lines are such a powerful ending:
ReplyDelete"I pack them carefully.
Outside, the birds sing."
❤️
Thanks Sunra, I only dip into those memories occasionally - the words lead me there this week. A lot of tissues died in the process.
DeleteI can only hope you are receiving the love and support you need to enable you to get through this grief. New found love is a miracle worker so you should be OK. Hang in there !
ReplyDeleteYes, hanging in. Deborah is a wonderful support for me.
DeleteThere's a softness to the heartache expressed here that makes it all the more moving. I remember this feeling when my father in law and then my mother in law passed on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rommy, I suspect it is universal.
Deletehttps://seachurn.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-sunday-whirl.html
ReplyDeleteI am unable to submit poems to the Sunday Whirl wordle. So I am just putting it on a few old mates ones. Only comment if you like it ( no pressure) Comments are good but I dont write for that specific purpose
🫂
DeleteThis is so well done. It's touching, and leaves so much unsaid.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is not a topic I venture into often. Can't afford the tissues.
DeleteSo moving, a stellar piece indeed!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant writing you’ve captured the clinical coldness of loss and contrast it sharply with the tactile, sensory warmth of what remains 🩷
ReplyDelete