Tuesday, March 19, 2013

At three in the morning



It awakens him at three in the morning,
first with the flash of anxiety edged
with panic, then the dark, rainy gray
of resignation. He moves his hand,
touching the cold sheets next to him,
cold when he wants the warmth
of what he knew. The laughter
that was has fled, leaving a dismal
silence to create its own vacuum,
its own void of memory. He considers
the possibility that it is he who lies
buried in the white coffin.

This poem is submitted to the One Word Blog Carnival hosted by Peter Pollock, and the word today is grief.

It is also submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time today.

Photograph by Petr Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

11 comments:

Kathleen Overby said...

"The laughter that was has fled" you spelled grief correctly here.

HisFireFly said...

what emotion rests in the words, gripping

Maureen said...

The evocative line Kathleen mentions really stands out in this poem. It could have been the poem's concluding words.

Brian Miller said...

like a punch in the gut man...bad enough to realize you are alone...even worse to realize they wont be back....hard on the emotions...

Martha Jane Orlando said...

I've been in that aching, despairing place . . . you could not have expressed the emotions felt any better, Glynn. Beautiful . . .

Tashtoo said...

Wow. This is quite literally painful. I have that aching in my throat, I can't read what I'm typing because it seems my eyes may be a little teary...the photo lends that same ache...so beautiful it hurts.

Anonymous said...

buried
in the white coffin
of bed sheets
i wonder...
why is it always
three a.m.
that meets me
awake and
aching for her
laughter

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what to write, as its moved me too much to express in a comment box. Just incredible...

a joyful noise said...

Three O'clock is a strange hour when spirits hover. Reaching out and no one is there is so lonely and such sorrow to wonder is it I and not my loved one in the white coffin.

Wolfsrosebud said...

didn't see that coming...

Kathy Reed said...

Now that is something I've felt and never want to feel again....this one is a keeper ;)