between sadness
and grief
I feel the warmth of
love red
as closed
lips
opening
softly
mouthing
words that fall
out tenderly
wanting to
change the inevitable
Inspired by William Carlos Williams’ poem, The Great Figure. It was so hard to tell friends and family when my treatment options had ended. What can they say… what can be said? However 9 months later, I’m still alive and these are precious times as a result.
September 2023 is Blood Cancer Awareness Month. It is also Child Cancer Awareness Month. Every day 10 children in the UK are diagnosed with cancer. Of those lucky enough to survive, many will have long-term side-effects that may significantly impact their lives forever.
I am posting one poem per day to recognise this and raise money for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. This charity provides sailing and other outdoor adventures for children and young people aged 8-24 who have been treated for cancer. But it’s more than that. There’s a package of support around this including siblings, return trips, volunteering opportunities and so on. The Trust also works hard to ensure their work is environmentally sustainable. You can make a donation HERE!
Another moving and thought-provoking poem.
Whereas the William Carlos Williams poem focuses on a fleeting moment of movement and sound, sometimes interpreted as a swiftly passing, unheeded lifetime, your poem feels expansive. Love needs no words. It is so all-encompassing that it contains and holds everything. In its moment, it seems to take you out of that tight spot between sadness and grief.
Ironically, in a way, it is the words of your poem that summon this feeling of warmth spreading between people and connecting them - and the image of the lips gives a sense of intimacy and shared understanding. The poem is like a tender whisper of love.
This one strikes a nerve in a wonderful way for me. Williams is a longtime favorite poet. It is the stark, simplicity of his words that allow the reader to fill the spaces with personal application. Your poem does the same. His writing has given me peace for decades. Upon my first wedding anniversary, I painted a simple watercolor illustration of his "so much depends" poem as a gift to my beloved. The picture is so faded now, but the words are stronger than ever. In your own words "the warmth of love" fills the gaps of emptiness and fear much like those cans of spray insulation (or better imagery yet, the petals of a poppy pushing through the joined edges of the sepals) expands and fills spaces that formerly were dark and cold. Each year the blooms of the poppy are a type of resurrection . . . glazed with [tears of] rainwater. Thank you for sharing your art and filling in some gaps for all of us.