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Open Poetry #32
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hoot_owl_rn
Member Patricius
since 1999-07-05
Posts 10750
Glen Hope, PA USA

0 posted 2004-04-14 09:15 PM


Haunted By The Ghost Of Your Passing

I am haunted
by the ghost of your passing
near the window
     fleeting glimpses of your reflection
fingers splayed to catch the sunlight
your giggling childish voice begging me
to come outside to play

My mind has frozen
still picture images
of blond ringlets sprung
to frame angelic face
     and time has thieved
ten years from me
or was it only yesterday

My hands still feel
the subtle texture
of downy hair
that softened tiny back
     like velvet beneath my fingers
as you curled
bath damp upon my lap
and slowly drifted off to sleep


I am haunted
by the ghost of your passing
weeks on end
in colorful hospital rooms
     as daily you paled and thinned
dissolving into yourself
and the bed on which you lay
fighting battles
there was no hope of winning

My mind has frozen
still picture images
of tiny white casket
covered in blanket of pink roses
and in a moment
     I’ve lost all sense of time
your tombstone claims you lived
three short years
though it couldn’t have been more
than a heartbeat, a second, a breath

My hands still feel
the subtle texture
of sifting dirt between my fingers
ashes to ashes
dust to dust
     and I crumble to the ground
longing to feel you close
as you sink further
from my reach

Ten years have passed
and still I wake
     longing to hush your cries
and soothe your pain
if only in my dreams

and tonight you danced for me
golden hair sparkling
     ephemeral vision disappearing
leaving me haunted
by the ghost of your passing


~ Ruth

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
  
  

© Copyright 2004 Ruth Kephart - All Rights Reserved
Nightshade
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since 2001-08-31
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just out of reach
1 posted 2004-04-14 09:19 PM


This makes my heart ache.
Hugs to you dear lady.  Chris

Earth Angel
Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215
Realms of Light
2 posted 2004-04-14 09:20 PM


Words fail me, Dear Ruth. I am so choked up with emotion after having read this poem of such pain and sorrow ~ yet of incredible beauty and grace.

Love & Eternal Light,
Linda

Martie
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since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
3 posted 2004-04-14 11:24 PM


Ruth

"Ten years have passed
and still I wake
     longing to hush your cries
and soothe your pain
if only in my dreams"

Time has no meaning for love and loss...it just is.  Heart hugs.  

passing shadows
Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
4 posted 2004-04-15 02:10 AM


the ghost never goes away...but it's just tolerable
Marge Tindal
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since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384
Florida's Foreverly Shores
5 posted 2004-04-15 09:03 AM


HootieGal~
Such a poignantly moving read~
*Huglets*
~*Marge*~

~*When the heart grieves over what it has lost,
the spirit rejoices over what it has left.
- Sufi epigram <))><

noles1@totcon.com

Jeffrey Carter
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Member Elite
since 2000-04-08
Posts 2367
State of constant confusion!
6 posted 2004-04-15 09:07 AM


Ruth,

First of all let me say that this poem made me I have never been more touched by a single poem in my life, this piece is exceptional in it's longing and the love that one can tell it was written with, if ever there was a poem that should be published for all the world to read, THIS is it

Take care,
Jeff

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
7 posted 2004-04-15 09:26 AM



Ruth, this is one of the reasons
Passions is so great...it gives a venue
to those who truly have compassion, and
who can write about life.

This is why we love you so, and miss you
even more.  Welcome home, lady...

Grover
Senior Member
since 2004-01-27
Posts 1967
London, ON, Canada
8 posted 2004-04-15 10:09 AM


So sad...
Seymour Tabin
Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720
Tamarac Fla
9 posted 2004-04-15 11:02 AM


hoot,
An excellent write. Children should outlive the parents. But no one ever said life was fair. Take care

Dark Angel
Member Patricius
since 1999-08-04
Posts 10095

10 posted 2004-04-15 06:00 PM


Ruth..so very sad.

Maree.

Beauty of the world which is soon to perish has two edges, one of laughter and one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.
(by Virginia Woolf)

hoot_owl_rn
Member Patricius
since 1999-07-05
Posts 10750
Glen Hope, PA USA
11 posted 2004-04-16 08:31 PM


It's always good to come home if even only for the minutes I sneak from my busy life.
Thank you all for the comments and the support you continue to show me through these years.
My muse seems only a fleeting image nowdays and writing in scattered. Perhaps sometime soon words will flow from my pen once more

Ratleader
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Member Rara Avis
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026
Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass
12 posted 2004-04-20 01:02 AM


Some poems end before the last word...and some, like this one, never end whether they're ever written or not. Well done.

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
______________Ratleader______________

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