remembrance

[jeremyyoung]

Remembrance

the doctor says, 'your baby is not alive'
yeah I know
but it's the missus I'm worried about now

the Simpsons play on the TV in the side room
but you don't laugh
instead the missus lets out a wail
that no actress can reproduce
no cliche ridden bullshit will let you hear
no poetic crap about darkness
or pretendy metaphor nonsense

the fact is
that it's not what you think
losing a child

yeah you hang onto each other
and
yeah there's anger
but there's more fear

fear that
not being kicked by that ball of hope
when you spoon in bed
will cut the thread
the umbilical of kindness
that makes cups tea
shares jokes
holds hands in the street

And no
you are not the same
when later you lay in bed
hand on her belly
wishing that fart
was a moving finger
a flickering eye
a thought

and you do despise the sympathy
the well meaning advice
the imposition of grief
the morons who say 'oh how dreadful'
'I can't imagine'
'you have to keep talking'

fuck off

and then there's the coffin
in the chapel of rest
and the instruction not to open it
because the veins are too small
for the formaldehyde
and you won't like to remember
what you see

which will not be that child
who was born dead
and lay in perfect stillness
on the blanket your missus crocheted
with the rattle you bought
in an idle moment of expectation

it will not be the child
with pink fingers
the scratch mark under the eye
that you imagine was done
when waking from sleep in the womb
and not when dying
those bowed rose lips
thinning and darkening
from which no sound ever came
in the few hours you spend together

that child who you dressed
in a white Sunday dress
with white tights
and white shoes
and tended
with all respect
and all duty
in death
because you couldn't in life

so you do what you are told
the coffin stays shut
and you kiss it
and embrace the sharp edges

and then a day or so later
tears rolling down your face
you lift it from
the hearse
it don't even cover the spare wheel
and carry it into the chapel
in front of your family and friends
and cry
and cry
and hold onto each other

and then the little white box
slides through the curtain
and you get ashes in a plastic pot


a reading -
[youtube]https://youtu.be/HLVcrmRMn3U[/youtube]

[ray miller]

Hello. There can't be many worse things to experience. I hope it helped to write about it, though I can't imagine it would much. It's difficult to critique a poem such as this, but anyway, I think it would be improved without the opening 3 lines. There are some fine passages, this in particular

that child who you dressed
in a white Sunday dress
with white tights
and white shoes
and tended
with all respect
and all duty
in death
because you couldn't in life

[David]

I agree with Ray. It seems beyond criticism. All I can say is that I found it very moving. Which doesn't amount to very much, I know. I'm sorry.

[Arian]

Yes, an affecting piece. I like the deliberately (I presume) unedited element of it, which hints at lack of control, which - in turn - creates a powerful sense of anger and helplessness.

This section...

and you do despise the sympathy
the well meaning advice..etc

Makes me think you've either (a) just read Julian Barnes' 'Levels of Life', or (b) should read it. It's a short (prose) exploration of the nature of grief after the loss of a loved one. And it makes powerful reading.

Cheers
Peter

[Katherine]

The pain is palpable! It brought tears to my eyes and they are falling now.
I imagine your response might very well be "Yes, but your tears will dry up soon enough!" and you'd be right.
But, this poem moved me to them.
I'll "Fuck off" now. x

[jeremyyoung]

I'll "Fuck off" now

yes but then you would have the right to say fuck off back on account of my assuming I knew how you felt

still thank you for you for reading