Remembrance (Lessened) Of An Old Suffering
Remembrance (Lessened) Of An Old Suffering
You caress the other’s face,
making love, but some curve
of your knuckle, back
of your hand,
brushes your own eyelid, and
you can’t tell, for an instant, what
has touched you
where–whether hand or eye
felt that stroke, and whose hand,
and whose eye–
remembering too can be
like that,
with luck, time.
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Here are 55 (minus title) that I hope are not too enigmatic for Marian’s Flash 55 prompt on With Real Toads. This poem has been edited since posting so maybe is a bit less enigmatic now. (The earlier version relied on the title more and just referred to remembering as “it” in the poem).
I appreciate that the photo doesn’t exactly match the poem! And that it probably is too “short,” cutting off trees. But I took it in my visually-impaired way the other day in upstate New York, and I very much like the crinkled ice at the bottom, the freeze happening on a windy night.
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: flash 55, How the mind works poem, love poem of sorts, manicddaily, Remembrance (Lessened) of an Old Suffering, when grips let go
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ManicDDaily 
December 7, 2014 at 8:52 am
Wonderful to feel so much a part of the other so you cannot tell if who is who.. sounds symbiotic almost. Indeed you are lucky if you feel that way.
December 7, 2014 at 10:58 am
Hey Bjorn– thanks for your comment as it makes me realize that the poem was a bit obscure since I wasn’t focused so much on the couple as to how memories and old sufferings change and we are no longer clearly their primary characters–old dramas. I have changed the poem but it still may not be quite right! Thanks! K.
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December 8, 2014 at 3:08 am
Yes,, now at second reading and with that change it comes through for me .. Thank you.
December 8, 2014 at 7:17 am
Thank you! k.
December 7, 2014 at 12:03 pm
I think the cold crinkle of ice perfectly matches the mood you have captured in your poem. Such a tender spot is touched by your words… enough to bring a tear to the eye.
December 7, 2014 at 1:42 pm
Thank you so much, Kerry, for your ever thoughtful and considered (and kind) comments. k.
December 7, 2014 at 2:31 pm
ohhhh, yes it is like that. it really is. and stays.
December 7, 2014 at 3:41 pm
You picked the perfect gesture for that moment of grace. I think the ictureis right too–dark with light reflecting from or causing–cracking ice. I felt a soft breeze of enlightenment as I read.
December 7, 2014 at 3:53 pm
Time does that to memories. The feelings are not as sharp or clear but some muddled inkling of something. Just perfect.
December 7, 2014 at 6:20 pm
Intimate and beautiful. I love the shapes found in ice forming. 🙂
December 7, 2014 at 6:49 pm
Thanks, Hannah.
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December 7, 2014 at 9:09 pm
Very thoughtful words and the photograph is beautiful…love the focus you chose for it.
December 7, 2014 at 11:55 pm
Sweetly sentimental and … is it forgiving? Lovely.
December 7, 2014 at 11:56 pm
So beautiful to be this close to another…
December 8, 2014 at 8:59 am
Remembering can be exactly like that! Perfectly drawn. Memory can be such a cloudy issue, In scenes I’ve always thought of myself as the main event it would seem I’m not.
December 12, 2014 at 1:48 am
beguiling. Galen would have loved it… ~