Friday, February 27, 2009

Stages of Grief

First Stage


Unwilling to wait

for the secession of breath

from history

I study the Tarot

phrenology

and ephemerides

Seeking arrest in arcane rituals

succour on phantom altars

hope in despair’s wake


Like a prodigy

lapping the stages of grief

I advance to immobility


Second Stage


“Take your support where you find it”

advised a sister

who inherited in a day

five children to her four

Plus parents

made a soccer team

Mick Jagger screamed

“You don’t always get what you want.”


A gift with consequences

and rewards

Beatification assured


Third Stage


Tears like acid rain

she weeps in plain sight

unashamed

excoriating the whole world

with her pain


That one is tragic

valetudinary

wears suffering like a badge


Fourth Stage


Betrayal has its own aroma

scenting victim

and transgressor

Your organs betray you

flickering off and off


You said, “I thought

they’d make an exception

in my case”

when you talked of death

It made me wince


Fifth Stage


I gaze upon my fingertips

I pray the incantation

to write you into my being

So many words have flowed

between us

So many joys we’ve shared

So many words forsake us

So many worlds unshared


Obedience to biology

Surrender to the Wheel

I am comforted

by contemplation

of your molecules

5 comments:

Laurie Gudim and Rosean Amaral said...

A true fleshing out of the phenomenon of grief -- I really like this poem. Especially the fifth stage, and being comforted by contemplation of the molecules. Oh yes. True in the deepest way.

C said...

I like this one a lot.

Very...like mine.
Contemplate the molecules that make us so alike.

LELANDA LEE said...

C,
You'll have to remind me of when/where you wrote "Contemplate the molecules that make us so alike." I don't recall. . .

C said...

It wasn't a reference to a poem I made, just using your metaphor to say we're alike and it's strange how genetics work like that.

LELANDA LEE said...

C,
Thanks for the clarification.
I wonder if it's genes or memes?