This prompt has had many forms and revisions today. I have been challenged and surprised by where it has taken me . Thank you Kaitlin and the others that have shown me support here
Some days it takes awhile for the prompt to spark something, other days like today, it was immediate. One limitation of substack is it does not keep the spacing I have or allow for any formatting which makes it hard for a rhyme.
This prompt moved me a lot today. I'm grateful for the time to sit with the memories and energy of some loved ones who have passed away, and for the inquiries that are arising as I read the poems shared here <3 Thank you, so much.
.
Death
.
Death.
It’s silent when I utter it in the emptiness.
Not sure if I should be afraid or patient,
It’s hard to tell.
But what’s there to tell?
What else do I need to put in this space
If it’s simply empty?
Silent?
I take a moment and a breath,
Chewing the contemplation.
Just like fear,
Death agitates my nervous system,
But just like fear,
I can still stand beside the thin veil of its borders
Wow, Kaitlin, thank you for this. I love the way you challenge your notions of death, and dare to keep the questions unanswered, not fully understood. I feel like I am an amateur of death, but seeing words such as yours above make me more passionate about humanizing and finding ways to relate to it.
I'm not afraid of dying;
I do it every day
.
I am afraid of leaving;
of business unfinished
knowledge unlearned
thoughts unuttered
words unread
moments unnoticed
love unexpressed
time unspent
life unlived
You can live through five deaths
before breakfast and still be waiting
on the side of the road, eyes
peeled for that black sedan speeding,
bringing death to self,
death to dreams,
death to Death
playing hide and seek behind
headstones wearing flower crowns-
life adorning decay in greenbrier,
in sweet honeysuckles.
The Dearly Departed
Do the departed observe us from heaven above?
Or are they much closer, those that we love?
Is the veil between worlds impossibly sheer?
So those who we've lost are actually near?
In death as in life, our hearts in their hands.
And present in ways we cannot understand.
Karri Temple Brackett
May 23, 2023
https://themarvelousandthemundane.com/2023/05/23/the-dearly-departed/
It was once said that
death is nothing at all
but it is
it is final
finite
life changing, literally
When you die
you pass from here
with me
to there, I'm not sure where,
but for me you move to a memory
a feeling, a photograph
Death is everything
In joy, I feel light
and dark tussle, life dying
makes my heart sing and sink
Death
Death. The word opens the floodgates
Of emotions and secrets and feelings unknown,
tears dammed up behind concrete denials,
and the need to be present, calm, strong.
I thought of you, enigmatic classmate, teammate and friend,
the blank, empty look in your eyes,
your spirit vanishing right before our eyes,
on that morning we heard the news.
It was clumsy and stupid, the way the powers
stumbled through the news of four young deaths,
their leadership lost long ago to their hubris and ineptitude,
all of us left to fill in the gaps after” Mark, Grady, Glen and Tim are dead.”
Only one remained to tell of that night,
wild pleasure turned to madness to sadness,
deep shadow lake through hot stringy woods,
your recollection gone silent as the morning dawned.
You did not come to practice that Monday afternoon,
two days later, nowhere to be found in school,
by the end of the week it was if you were never here.
swept away in the haze that always held your gaze.
We never spoke again.
only a faint and fading glow,
where your slender formed once crouched,
ready to devour each grounder that came your way.
None of us in those days knew the words to say,
mouth opening with no coherent sound.
Now, fifty years later, news of death still fresh,
only now can I say I miss you.
In our culture death can be
…shhh…a dirty word
Something to hide from and
pretend will never happen
Ironically,
it is transpiring all the time
Yes, pun intended!
A lot of effort is put into extending life
But at what cost?
For it mostly lengthens the dying
Quantity over quality
And death is scary and vulnerable
Loss a tremendous grief
All the more reason to make
friends with death
To know that there truly is no living
when running away from the dying
Death comes as it comes
No pleading, compromising or begging will change that
No reciting facts and statistics will alter its arrival
Death comes, just like life comes
Death exists because life exists
Life is continuous because death makes that possible.
We see this again and again
Simply, in our own lives with every loss and change
that makes space for something new
Every autumn as the plants
whither, die and decay
Becoming the nutrient packed fertilizer
for the new sprouts of Spring
This prompt has had many forms and revisions today. I have been challenged and surprised by where it has taken me . Thank you Kaitlin and the others that have shown me support here
Death: a Conversation
death
let me introduce myself
I realize you think you know me
maybe you do
we have been travel companions
for quite some time
though I must admit
I just realized it today
but that is the way
you like it
you have been in my abusers
and my trauma
you have been in my
triggers and responses
you have been in people
that have judged me blindly
and in me the times
that I do the blindly judging
you have been in my
frustration and anger
my desire for influence and fame
all of the lusts of my false self
can be attributed to your sway
each time my call
is corrupted from its
purest form
you have a stronger foothold
into this world of the living
which is a distortion
of your calling
now, returning to my introduction
I am,
despite a trip (or a few)
to the threshold
between life and you,
a survivor
a resistance fighter
I have been studying
and thinking about
the suffering you cause
I have grown wiser
and more caring
even as we continue
our journey together
I recognize you
for who you truly are
more importantly
I am aware of
who I am
who I was created to be
and I know that
I may not have been
my fullest version
of my created self
without
the distorted version of you
of the you that tries
desperately to exist
with authority
over the living
I am grateful for
what I have learned
and how I have
grown because of you
but now
the rest of my years
must be lived in
the valley of shadow of you
and no longer
constant travel partners
though one day
hopefully many many
years from now
I will join you in
your natural calling
Death, where is thy sting?
confronted with that, I've been
.
absence
far
too
soon
Some days it takes awhile for the prompt to spark something, other days like today, it was immediate. One limitation of substack is it does not keep the spacing I have or allow for any formatting which makes it hard for a rhyme.
5/23
Prompt: Death
A friend’s cat died today,
Her children were distraught.
It is okay to not be okay,
In a world full of fraught.
When you are sad, you are sad,
Grief is a part of this journey on earth.
Feeling that way doesn’t make you bad,
Nor is it a measure of your worth.
So sit awhile with your feeling,
Ask it what it might require,
It is a start to the healing,
As you linger by the funeral pyre.
Death
as the end draws near
the thin space opens the door
to see what matters
It was right outside the perverbial door, and knocking loud.
we were huddled around Ed,
.waiting.
nelson was whispering in his ear,
something about "your legacy".
!!! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE SO I CAN GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE !!!
his spirit screams silently.
right at me. right thru me.
I could smell his breath.
So the "church man" of the family cries wee wee wee and ran all the way home.
And I am good with that.
Peace to you, my friend ed.
This prompt moved me a lot today. I'm grateful for the time to sit with the memories and energy of some loved ones who have passed away, and for the inquiries that are arising as I read the poems shared here <3 Thank you, so much.
.
Death
.
Death.
It’s silent when I utter it in the emptiness.
Not sure if I should be afraid or patient,
It’s hard to tell.
But what’s there to tell?
What else do I need to put in this space
If it’s simply empty?
Silent?
I take a moment and a breath,
Chewing the contemplation.
Just like fear,
Death agitates my nervous system,
But just like fear,
I can still stand beside the thin veil of its borders
And be alive.
Curious.
Attentive.
Respectful.
I’ll be honest, I’m not used to this space
Death
But it’s not a shortcoming. It’s not a deficit.
Wherever I am in my death dance,
I still have my love
And I trust myself.
I say I don’t know death, but Death says
It knows me.
It invites to peer into its sweet waters,
(Didn’t see it coming)
Into a well of wistful wonders.
I find it effortless to pass through the veil…
.
Like stepping into my own surprise party,
I am delighted by who I see
And just how much I love.
My worlds and worlds are gathered here,
Smiling as they ever have upon me now
To remind me how bright and light and whole
I am
They are
We are
In life and in death.
keep your cats close
'cause I'm curious
about the prompt word process
.
all set ahead of time
with precise prosaic planning
or are the poetic prompts
prompted by the poetry?
.
Life does not depend on the answer
but cats might rest more easily
if curiosity was laid to rest.
Life is not interested in Death at All
In fact, Life doesn’t know what Death is
Life only knows Life as it should
And Life sees itself as being Good
Western culture has given Death a bad name
While in Eastern places it’s not the same
Eastern Philosophy teaches the Tao
How to not fear Death by living in the now
How to connect with the entire Universe
Living with all, seeing yourself in everything
So that one day, when your time here ends
You gracefully join the birds as they simply sing
Wow, Kaitlin, thank you for this. I love the way you challenge your notions of death, and dare to keep the questions unanswered, not fully understood. I feel like I am an amateur of death, but seeing words such as yours above make me more passionate about humanizing and finding ways to relate to it.