This is not goodbye

A part of me remains
in the branches of the willow tree,
giggling in the honeysuckle,
and writing poetry
in dust you will never wipe away.

I will linger in your shower steam
and permeate each dream,
smiling at your silly songs,
I might even sing along
as long as you don’t mind.

My body may be gone
but my spirit still sighs,
this is not goodbye.

Kim M. Russell, 16th September 2020

My response to Poets and Storytellers United Weekly Scribblings #37: Last Messages

This week Rosemary brings us a selection of death poem, written by poets as they were dying, and she would like to know what our final messages to the world would be. She asks us to write our own death-bed reflections, ahead of time, in new pieces of prose or poetry. She says that if we choose to write poetry, we might like to base it on the form James uses, or copy Carver’s self-questioning, or we might even attempt a jisei.

24 thoughts on “This is not goodbye”

  4. Oh KR; those last 3 lines of the middle stanza are words My Beloved Sandra might say to reassure me (though I KNOW she’d never volunteer to sing along.)

    This is stunningly good stuff.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I love the thought of “writing poetry / in dust you will never wipe away.” It’s not only wonderful imagery, but it also gives the living a great reason to postpone the dusting just another day… 🙂

    I also love that the title is the closing.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.