Bones of Christmas
A poem for all those we miss,and those we have trouble being with during the holidays.
mourning
Until Dawn
This poem is both a devotion to my mother and a lament as to the fate of the countless undiscovered or passed over, but worthy writers like her. By Andrea LeDew.
Surroundings
This poem begins ominously, but overall has a positive message. In it, I chart the path of the survivor, from grief to acceptance to rejoicing.
The Cabin
This poem is set at my father’s cabin and reminds us, that places are not the same, without the people we expect to see there. A toast to all those we miss this winter! Thanks for coming by to read. In dreams, I slowly seek to climb The staircase of my father’s house, The knotted …
Superior Haunting
This poem is a love song to my sister. She and my brother and I recently went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, along Lake Superior, for a scattering of my parent’s ashes. When people live far away, it’s easy to slide into a habit of benign neglect. To fail to call. To fail to …
Puzzled
This poem came in a moment of discouragement, when I was imagining ,how much more I might have done with my many years, had I only set my mind to it. And wondering, whether I might have worked harder or faster, had I been more acutely aware of my own mortality. Such topics lend themselves …
In the Morning
Fair warning: This poem takes a turn for the worse, toward the end. It’s not often, that I can use the two keywords “morning” and “mourning” in the same piece. I’m sure many of you are as fond of early morning, as I am. At least, on those rare occasions, that I get a good …
Victoria
This poem came to me as I considered, how long it had been since my parents died. And how the pain of it all still stings. I could not help but think of Queen Victoria, who famously wore mourning clothes for her husband Albert, to her dying day. Even though Albert died when she …
Channeling
This poem came from sitting around too much, binge-watching too much, finding myself listless and devoid of energy. A plight, which I imagine many people find themselves in, as they try to creep forward through the slothful slog, that is this pandemic. When we realize suddenly, how very little we are accomplishing, the only …
Carpe Diem
This poem came to me while drinking coffee from a French Press, since out coffee carafe on the regular coffeemaker is tragically broken. It seemed that I could not get to the coffee soon enough, what with life’s many distractions, to sip it, before it turned cold. Like most common wisdom, the concept of …
Disbelief
I wrote this poem recently, as it became increasingly clear, that all our fervent hopes and prayers for the recovery of my poor niece would not result, in her blessing us with her presence once again. Sorry for the note of sadness and even despair. Grief will do that to you. To all of …
At Christmas
When I wrote this poem, I was contemplating how strange this Christmas season seems. How different, from all the previous Christmases. I cannot bring myself to buy a Christmas tree, to bake cookies, to play carols. I hesitate to celebrate, as if to do so might invite disaster. This pandemic came thick upon the …
Election Wednesday (2004)
A poem reacting to a disappointing election result.
Catastrophe
The roof collapsed the day you left; The raging waters rose; The earth, it opened underfoot; A wildfire nipped my toes. My conscience slipped. My compass points Reversed and spun around. The continents commenced to drift: They laid you in the ground. I worshipped dirt beneath your feet (Though now above your …
First
A poem about the grief of celebrating holidays such as Father's Day when the one who is celebrated is gone.
Compost
{I wrote this poem after visiting the compost pile and adding several handfuls of shredded documents, to top off the orange rinds, coffee grounds and bits of brown lettuce. Life is teeming, in the moist soil-in-the-making beneath. Like many of you, I have been trying to clean house during these long, dull days of …
Visiting Angels
In this poem, I imagine an older person who has lost a lot of loved ones in his or her life, and how that person feels about being left behind. Thanks for coming by to read. I wonder why they leave me. I wonder why they go. I wonder why I wonder why: I’ll never, …
Empty Nester
A somewhat chilling poem about the time after the children are gone, when they are most missed.
Half-Life
{This week, What Pegman Saw goes to my neighbor Georgia, to a site outside Albany, know as Radium Springs. Water cures including mineral water, have been popular since the 1850’s, but there was apparently a craze in the twenties and thirties that promoted water including radon or radium. Many other devices and products …
The Problem (poem)
In this poem an engineer confronts a thorny problem with no apparent solution.