(Today, one of my pencil sketches, "Dogwood - Spring Hope")
I grew up within sight of that cemetery which held the grave of a great-grandmother I never knew ... a sister ... a brother ... and so many others who had peopled the small community in which I was growing up.
I remember the curving road which carried the funeral processions up and around ... the parked cars ... the tent covering the grave site ... the mourners gathering ... heads bowed ...
I remember the flowers ... the small flags moving gently in the breeze ... the sound of the rifles being fired in salute ... a silence as the echoes of that gunfire ebbed and flowed away ... the faltering, mournful sound of a bugle ... somewhere distant ... up there among the bluffs ...
I remember it all ... especially this weekend ... another Memorial Day when I cannot be there to join in paying tribute to those ... all those ... who gave me the life that I have had ... but I think they would understand my absence ... as they understood me in life ... they would understand ...
The poem:
HOMAGE
I stand in the silence
beside the graves
on the slope of that hill
where the acorns fall
like spent minutes.
I stand, thinking
of those who helped me,
gave me that gentle push
in the small of my back,
sent me off toward places
they had never been,
would never be, sent me
off toward becoming
what I am, what I may
yet become.
I stand there thanking
them for their love.
© 2007
(First Place award, ByLine Contest; published in Brave Hearts, Fall, 2007)
***
Today's word:
becomingAfterthoughts ... in response to your comments:
Thank you, Featheredpines ... I'm glad you liked the sketch ... the dogwood which posed for it graces the front lawn of Brimm Manor. The blossoms have come and gone for this year, but they were so abundant ... so dazzling ... they sent me digging for the sketch I did a few years ago. Also, I've never been to the northern Canadian Rockies, but your description of them as " ... the place that gave me the deepest peace ... " certainly has me sold on the spot. I'll try, too, to share more of my sketches and paintings ... I'm sure I can find some around here someplace ... maybe in that stack over there ...
I'm glad you like the sketch, too, Hechan ... high praise from a very good watercolorist. And I appreciate the thoughtful comment about the poem. Best wishes.
3 comments:
What a lovely sketch! You've got the formation of the delicate branches and flowers down pat. I really miss dogwoods and this was a welcome sight!
I'm so far from where my grands are buried. My family members had an odd habit of writing in their wills there will be no funerals. I don't know if the years in Europe having to be stoic so not allowing grief created this odd request but some also wished for no markers so I don't know where they "are" now.
In my own will I have requested my ashes be scattered over the northern Canadian Rockies. Not because I really care what happens to them, but becuase in this way whomever carries out this wish will share with me even after I'm gone, the place that gave me the deepest peace in this lifetime.
I'm sure your loved ones "would understand" and I believe mine do too :)
PS - I love when you share your sketches and paintings :)
Your sketch is lovely! The petals stand up.
This is a very sensative poem. It makes me wish that there were someplace I could go and concentrate my thoughts about my folks and think about how much I appreciate them.. I think of those thoughts often, though Your poem is excellent in every way a poem could be.
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