It’s always something else
we wish would save us—
the right words, for instance,
especially spoken on the right lips.
Or perhaps the temporary shine
inside the generous glass of wine.
And if not that, then friendship.
Or an altar. The sun or a song or a kiss.
But somehow in our hearts
there is always an empty chair,
some sense that someone or something
else is supposed to be here,
even if the room is light. Even when
the rightest words are found.
Even if the wine tastes of melon and grass.
Oh that emptiness. That emptiness
is a chance to ask ourselves, really ask,
who is the one who thinks she needs
to be saved? Sometimes I watch her
slip right through the cracks.
She takes her cross with her,
her books, her prayer mat,
her musts, her beads, her shame,
and what remains is everything.
You are on such a roll these days, each poem speaking Truth in a way that gets into my being. Your poems are part of what is saving my life these days as one of my best friendsâactually the woman I saw you with in Logan two years agoâhas been diagnosed with an aggressive and far advanced cancer two weeks ago. Sigh. not keeping it together very well. But you may be glad to hear that part of her healing team includes a poetry finder. We all get a poem a day from her as well. Canât believe how much I am relying on the truth of these words.
Thanks again.
Marcia Miller, owner
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Oh Marcia, It is very sad to hear about your friend. Under the circumstances, I think that not keeping it together very well sounds absolutely appropriate. And you are right, I am glad to hear that poetry is part of her healing process. It is very healing for me, too … both writing it and reading other people’s poems … and I often find that reading poems aloud with others–that shared resonance–has the ability to alter the way I see the world.
Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it so much, so glad to know that the poems speak to you. Sending you grace, Rosemerry
This and the current one on the Eucharist are teeming with that religious flavor but not that religious overload. There’s a reverence in both, caught in the mix of marvel and, as in the Eucharist, humor. I think that’s what makes them attractive. The reverence especially. This one is such a fine tribute for that empty chair.
Great comment the empty chair, in fact all the images here, came from a prompt photo that Eduardo Brummel put up in a poetry group I belong to as an online challenge. I was initially completely uninspired by the photo, but so happy when the poem did come, as my favorite ones do, as a big surprise.
From: “comment-reply@wordpress.com” Reply-To: Date: Sunday, August 31, 2014 at 7:39 PM To: Rosemerry Trommer Subject: [A Hundred Falling Veils] Comment: “Canticle”
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