"Everyday in every way I’m getting better and better" - Emile Coue
Monday, August 13, 2018
Regurgitate
this emptiness
then swallow salt
as small bones froth with decay
one last look
i let go {body}
box of sorrow
after 17 days and 1,6000 km
sinks to ocean depths
i surface where my sisters
are frolicking in the dying days
of summer
Posted for dVerse Poets pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson. This is a 44 word post with the chosen word - BOX. This is inspired by news of the mother orca letting go of her baby calf after 17 days in British Columbia, Canada.
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Oh, heart wrenching, Grace. That "{body}
ReplyDeletebox of sorrow"
just about did me in. So well done. This is grief. Indeed.
Breathtaking, Grace! Beautiful on so many levels!
ReplyDeleteI've only just read about the orca in the flood of wonderful poems on-line, and my faith in human beings has been restored. Your quadrille is so sad and so beautiful, Grace, especially:
ReplyDelete' this emptiness
then swallow salt
as small bones froth with decay'
and
'box of sorrow
after 17 days and 1,6000 km
sinks to ocean depths'
So tragic and then the image of "frolicking" - bittersweet as it is still in the throes of death.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a poignant memorial poem to the mother Orca and her baby.
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking description of letting go of that box of sorrows ending with the dying days of summer.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful sad poem for a small tragedy. They are dying, but they don't let go.
ReplyDeleteSure a grief that nothing else can compare to.
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous, sad and inspiring. Thanks for letting us know in the footnote what the poem refers to; though it worked as an abstract pathos poetic as well.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful write. This brought me to tears, Grace. I actually had not heard the story until now. This resonated deeply as I just saw what a local fisherman believed to be an orca just a few days ago off the coast of Newfoundland.
ReplyDeleteVery nice quadrille Grace. It is sad to see the box of last remains disappear in the ocean. You wove this one very well.
ReplyDeleteOver at Poets United today Sherry has a feature on this orca. I have a poem or two in it. The grief this orca grieving has affected of us in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteSo very sad!
ReplyDeleteLike others, such a sad story (and fine poetic response) - I try not to anthropomorphise - after all, nature is red in tooth and claw - but this palpable grief resonates.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a poignant memorial poem, Grace. I like the lines; "this emptiness
ReplyDeletethen swallow salt as small bones froth with decay one last look"..they truly capture the pain and essence of loss.. sigh..
Oh dear. The sadness is so felt. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteVery nice poem about a whale who lives in our San Juan Islands here in Washington. We are so worried about their extinction...only 75 Orca left. Not enough food and polluted waters.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't bear this anguish of this tragedy. What mother wouldn't do the same?
ReplyDeleteThis was such a sad sad thing to follow in the news. And we anthropomorphized the mother whale. Your last lines are perfect...
ReplyDelete"a box of sorrow" describes this so well.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read your post-script, your poem brought to mind for me when we had to say good-bye to our seven week daughter 18 years ago. My wife held our daughter gently as she passes and told her struggling body that it was time, “it’s alright Sarah, you can go.” This box of sorrow never closes. Your poem is a blessing, even though it hurts to have lost her, her life was beautiful. Letting go... I feel we will hold her again.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, how sad. Thanks for the reference at the end of the poem. I'm going to find the story now. A moving tribute, thanks Grace.
ReplyDelete