I Stood by the Lychgate

I stood by the lychgate of our parish church;
confetti drifting across stony graves and crosses
reminded me that I had left you in the lurch.
In my satin dress, I weighed up gains and losses,
but still I could not step inside the porch.

The wedding car just left me standing there,
my father said he’d washed his hands of me.
My maid of honour waited patiently, unaware
of the doubts that overwhelmed me; she
would never understand or even care.

I often stand by the lychgate, out of sight
behind the creeping ivy and thorny roses,
soaking up the happiness of girls in white
while weighing up my own life’s gains and losses.

Kim M. Russell, 14th May 2024

Image by Photo Nic on Unsplash

It’s Tuesday and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, we are left in the lurch with Dora.

Dora’s literary examples of being jilted are the eponymous character in Katharine Anne Porter’s short story ‘The Jilting of Granny Weatherall’, William Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Miss Emily’, and Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, about whom my beloved Carol Ann Duffy has written one of my favourite character poems. Examples in poetry are Thomas Hardy’s ‘A Broken Appointment’, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s ‘Time does not bring relief; you all have lied’, Sylvia Plath’s ‘Jilted’ and Margaret Elizabeth Sangster’s ‘After a Day of Waiting’.

Dora also asks us to think about how it feels to be the one who does the jilting, and has shared Plath’s poem ‘To a Jilted Lover’.

Our challenge, is to use the examples as inspiration to write our own poems in the voice of one who has been stood up in no uncertain terms on a meaningful occasion or in in the voice of one who does the jilting. It could also be about the long-term effects of that singularly painful moment in time, or the humorous or relieved discovery of misunderstanding the time or place. We may use ideas from movies, music, literature, art: whatever it takes to get our creative juices flowing. I went for a traditional old-fashionedrunaway bride.

47 thoughts on “I Stood by the Lychgate”

  3. I wasn’t certain what a lychgate was … after I discovered ts meaning, your poem came to life, morphed into a short mind-movie, I could see the almost-bride, see it all, feel the emotion! Great write.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. I also didn’t know what lychgate was but yes it does bring many a thought and feeling to mind. It is a wonderful metaphor and I can relate. I took valium before my wedding I was so anxious at the thought.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. The first stanza’s a powerful introduction – keenly done – to a familial betrayal which shadows the marital. Fathers give up daughters to thresholds they never return from? Do they never let the wedding march lurch go? One love lost for another. Well done Kim.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. That last stanza nails it! Really liked it all, very much, subject, tone, and then that last stanza really just put it right there…..that whimsical reflection…she just, you know, had a wee change of heart…….

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. That is a tough decision to make, and you tell it well. In the end, she had to do what was right for her, but it came at the cost of disapproval and rejection, and even some touch of regret. This is true so often in life with the choices we make and live with! I especially like how you’ve crafted that emotive final stanza.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to paeansunplugged Cancel reply

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