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.    

22 comments:

  1. Oh, heart wrenching, Grace. That "{body}
    box of sorrow"
    just about did me in. So well done. This is grief. Indeed.

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  2. Breathtaking, Grace! Beautiful on so many levels!

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  3. I'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:
    ' 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'

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  4. So tragic and then the image of "frolicking" - bittersweet as it is still in the throes of death.

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  5. This was such a poignant memorial poem to the mother Orca and her baby.

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  6. Heartbreaking description of letting go of that box of sorrows ending with the dying days of summer.

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  7. Such a beautiful sad poem for a small tragedy. They are dying, but they don't let go.

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  8. Sure a grief that nothing else can compare to.

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  9. Just 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.

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  10. A 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.

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  11. Very nice quadrille Grace. It is sad to see the box of last remains disappear in the ocean. You wove this one very well.

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  12. Over 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.

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  13. Like 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.

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  14. This is such a poignant memorial poem, Grace. I like the lines; "this emptiness
    then swallow salt as small bones froth with decay one last look"..they truly capture the pain and essence of loss.. sigh..

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  15. Oh dear. The sadness is so felt. Hugs.

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  16. Very 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.

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  17. I couldn't bear this anguish of this tragedy. What mother wouldn't do the same?

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  18. This was such a sad sad thing to follow in the news. And we anthropomorphized the mother whale. Your last lines are perfect...

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  19. Before 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.

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  20. Oh 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.

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