Category: Loss

Mermaid

Mermaid

She had lived in these waters
Where she would call to him
He was curious and came willingly
And together they would swim

She took him to the ocean floor
And they would pick up starfish
Marveling at their million legs
And on each one make a wish

He learned to ride the dolphins
While she swam alongside
They would lie on the rocks
With each other, preoccupied

As they sat in the sun
He would braid her hair
He had fallen deeply in love
And did not want to share

One day he had to go away
And thought his heart might break
She promised him she would stay
But he feared he’d lose her in his wake

He constructed an image of her
And placed it on the rocks
So she would remember where to come
He would return at the spring equinox

She came back every day
Waiting for her love
She would laugh at the statue
And look up above

The sun had changed its position
But he had never returned
She became tired of waiting
This mermaid had been spurned

She swam far away from there
And did never return
When he finally reappeared
All that was left
was the monument so taciturn

 

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

In response to Hélène Vaillant’s What Do You See? – Photo Prompt

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When Your Number Is Up

When Your Number Is Up

She looked to the mountains
With the colors of red and gold
Like her brazen hair
A Celtic look strong and bold
Her husband a seaman
sailing the oceans seven
Like his father before him
a cabin boy at age eleven

Used to her loneliness
she cared for the croft
Sheep to be fed
and hay in the loft
Her feelings repressed
Who would hear her voice
The bairns too young
she didn’t have a choice

The small cottage
never dingy or unclean
A spotless home
A place that was serene
This day her thoughts
were indulgent and sublime
But they were ephemeral
Being in the world of maritime

A storm picking up
Dark clouds gathering
She rounded up the young ones
as the shutters began clattering
Just another day
This woman of resilience
Keeping home fires burning
Until her husband’s deliverance

Marking the calendar
Until his return on leave
Nine more days
Of wool to weave
One week and two days
Until he is home safe and sound
Sadly she did not know
That he had already drowned

 

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Word Prompts:

Repress

Dingy

Ephermeral

Sublime

OctPoWriMo – Poem a Day #29 – By the Numbers

Photo by Sean McGee on Unsplash

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Broken Dreams

Broken Dreams

Once upon a time
when you were my lover
we used to live in our world
of magical fantasy with
new experiences to discover

Fearless and free
We sailed the seven seas
Swimming in oceans
Enduring blizzards
And climbing trees

Our dreams were endless
and energy unbounded
A magical pair
Living in enchantment
Any negativity unfounded

Was it then prophetic
that you went away?
You became my former lover
Our lives modified
No longer here to stay

I fascinated you no longer
The spell was broken
In a New York minute
My hopes and wishes dashed
Another word never spoken

 

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing

Word Promp[ts:

Prophetic

Former

Blizzard

Modify

OctProWriMo – Poem a Day #18 – Once Upon a Time

 

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This House is not a Home

This House is not a Home

As I look around the room
In its disrepair
The beauty is still here
In this house
where we raised our children
Your essence is everywhere

The dirt and grime is thick
Covering the furniture and drapes
The height chart on the wall
no longer visible
and there’s the chair where you
bandaged the scrapes

Memories of our family
Are buried deep in this grime
Layers of our life disguised
In the filth of other’s lives
But their neglect
is the only crime

That you are gone from my life
is the tragedy I cannot bear
This house no longer my home
I just came to see
if you were still here
Why is life so unfair?

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

In response to Mish’s Challenge at dVerse Poets Beauty in Ugliness

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Solitary Man

Solitary Man

I am haunted by your words
That lay heavy on my heart
We are only as strong
as the miles between us
Destined to be apart

There is a sense of dislocation
I am an empty vessel
With all the hangover
and none of the buzz
All these things I wrestle

Reflecting on our last night
Sitting in the park by the lake
The color of your eyes
In the moonlight
I melted like a snowflake

I was dancing on air
Until you laid out your plan
You were leaving me
Never to return
I am now a solitary man

 

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Word Prompts:

Haunted

Color

Fjord/Lake

Park/Parking

Solitary

OctPoWriMo – Poem a Day – #10 Dancing on Air

Photo by Quinten de Graaf on Unsplash

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White Lady of Kinsale – Poem of the Month – November 2018

White Lady of Kinsale

The moon had risen in the black sky
Giving an ethereal luminescence
Silver shimmering ripples on the lake
Magical in its quivering quintessence

The place of myths and legends
Mystery suspended in the cool night air
A white vision stands at water’s edge
A commanding presence with her long hair

The lady of the lake a mourning bride
of a soldier murdered by his men
Distraught she threw herself to her death
Forever trapped to roam over and again

Wandering the walls of the Charles Fort
A familiar sight of agonized plight
Grief-stricken for her dead groom
She walks the darkened streets at night

Her trapped spirit  forever nocturnal
Appearing to those who can see
The lady of the lake is still mourning
Her loss forever burned in history

Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing

All Rights Reserved

OctPoWriMo – A Poem a Day – October #7

Photo by Luke Marshall on Unsplash

Prompted by a Tragic Irish Ghost Story The White Lady of Kinsale

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Lover’s Legacy

Lover’s Legacy

I bury my face in your shirt
Smelling your cologne
Still lingering on the fabric
Laundered clean since then
Yet you are there touching my senses
The ritual almost tantric

Coffee brewing in the pot
Kitchen filled with a glorious aroma
Morning smells familiar of you
Fresh baked bread and soft butter
Roses picked fresh from the garden
Sweet and fragrant still covered in dew

If love had a scent
It would bear your name
Your essence is omnipresent
Each room I wander into
Provoking memories of you
But you are now absent

As always lost in my reverie
Dreaming of what we once had
and wondering why it went wrong
Did I become invisible by loving you
And you could no longer see me
Or did you never quite belong

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

In response to Gina’s Challenge – Comfort Smell – at D’Verse Poets

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Departed

Departed

I harvest the remnants
of our life once complete
Limiting the time I spend
Reminiscing
As my heart now deplete

My eyes look around
the spartan room
Your things gone
and furniture removed
A feeling of empty gloom

My eyes drawn to the window
Afternoon sun bathing the glade
In a matinee performance
of fantastic color and light
A silent serenade

Missing you, still loving you
Feeling you here
Where life used to exemplify
our love and intimacy
Now fated to disappear

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Word Prompts:

Harvest

Spartan

Glade

Limit

Exemplify

OctPoWriMo – October Poem a day

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash

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Lies

Lies

One little lie, two little lies
Three lies, four
This is how it begins
Hard to keep track
Impossible to ignore

Choosing to go down
that slippery slope
There’s no turning back
The choice has been made
Say goodbye to all hope

Infatuation is a welcome guest
But he obscures your vision
With a diaphanous veil
Making you the fool
Of bad decisions

Improvisation attempted
But not availed
You’ve shown your true colors
A relationship is now in ruins
His love cruelly assailed

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Daily Word Prompts:

Slippery

Infatuation

Guest

Diaphanous

Improvise

Ruins

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