Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Call

She would call out
For him. A low wail
Building in crescendo
And crashing through
The night and my slumber.

Between moans and groans,
She would call his name
And he never answered
Her call. He was never
There to answer her call.

As I lay awake,
I would imagine her calls
Were limbs, hands stretching
Out through the here and now
To a plane where no one
Ever returns.

Her arms extending
Through the shallow
Night, trying to embrace
A spirit that is
Lost to her forever.

Before, I would run to
Her bedside, wipe away
The sweat from her brow,
Wrap my arms around her
Only to have her push me away.

I was not him and
She wanted him not
A poor substitute.
Before, by heart would
Break.

My heart would crash
To the floor and I
Would run for the broom
And dust pan to sweep it up
Before returning to my room.

I would want her
To want me as much
As she wanted him,
Want me not as her
Nursemaid, her care taker,
But want me for me.

I had accepted the fact
That she would always call
For him in the deepest
Of her slumber, because
I knew in the stark sunlight,
It was me she would call.


Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry #210


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8 comments:

Susan said...

Argh! It dropped my comment! I'll rewrite it later.

Mary said...

What a well - described situation here. I can well feel the sadness of the one who wants to be wanted for herself.... You have chosen a strong theme and carried it through.

Grace said...

Very moving write all the way through the end ~ I feel for the caretaker as well as for the one calling his name ~

Sherry Blue Sky said...

You have expressed this situation well, the one deeply loved and forever gone, and the caretaker who wants to be "loved for me". Very sad. But at least in the sunlight it is the caretaker she calls for. Maybe in time she will appreciate that love still surrounds her.

ZQ said...

Interesting piece it held my attention all the way through.
Nice!
ZQ

Sumana Roy said...

this sense of void is so deeply palpable here...an intense poem...

Natašek said...

LOVEly

Brian Miller said...

hard place of being..hurting for the one you love...knowing that you can not fill the spot she needs filled....

 
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