Annus Horribilis

This has been a particular difficult year; a mixed bag, and only now the storm clouds are starting to part.

Traumas and emotional upheaval can play havoc with writing, and what should have been a great time for writing and publishing had fizzled somewhat and the last few months have been fraught.

From being made redundant in February and finding another job, (thankfully) to becoming a parent in April (exhausting), to losing my mother in September, and succumbing to injury and illness in the meantime, I’ve had some pretty dark moments.

But as a writer, these dark moments make us stronger when we emerge the other side.  After my mother died, I didn’t want to write anything, I didn’t care about writing, and probably the most difficult piece of writing I’ve ever done was her eulogy.  But thankfully as the grief settles, the love of writing has returned, and I’m back in the saddle with lots of projects on the horizon.

I wrote the poem, Leaving Martha’s Vineyard, some months back, before my mother passed away, and now that I revisit it, I realise how poignant it is when it talks about death and grief, so I’d like to share it.

 

Leaving Martha's Vineyard

Fickle fingers grazed
His shapes across her skin
A chiffon breeze coaxed the sand
Against a heartbeat medley
And seagull echoes

She lay facing the sun
Resting gently on her hands
Fading with the light
Lured by the ocean song
Parting with his touch

Warmth soaked his face
As their time lurched
To a moment long expected
His goodbye slowly lost
To the bristling of the surf

Her gentle genie;
He’d granted her wish
To feel the sunset
Across the beach
On her freckled face

Time trickled from him
Stealing his memories
And running with the waves
Leaving Martha’s Vineyard
Far behind

Her eyelids shuttered
And one last time
Her delicate breath
Beat soft like butterfly wings
She shimmered.  Away.

Dedicated to the memory of Patricia Anne Humpage 12/09/1945 - 07/09/2012