'Tis a heavy mantle that on the shoulders rest,
To see a beloved one pass quietly from life;
Through whom my own small life was abundantly blessed,
A friendship which intertwined our loyal love rife.
The still solemn silence of a sudden absence
Reveals before me an expansive empty space,
Unfilled and desiring her absent presence,
A permanent void standing in her very place.
The heart that carries the yoke so heavily born
Weeps in mad grief, the soul constantly it’s wrenching,
Forcing out sounds of a deep anguish forlorn,
Streaming a constant flow of tears, the cheeks drenching.
But within this little mourning heart a sign divine;
A purpose, a reason, a hope, a life benign!*I got the ambition to try a sonnet style, so I wrote this. First sonnet ever written. Thinking of all the wonderful women I've known who have left this life.
Commentary:
Sometimes I get into the mood to give myself a good challenge. I used to be scared of writing poetry and was quite sure I wasn't good at it. It seemed like something that had to be a fancy awe inspiring message that would amaze the whole world. When I first picked up poetry, I started out with basically a type of freestyle, not having to worry about rhyme and rhythm. There are many styles, and I toyed with several of them, but for some reason I found the Sonnet daunting. It may be that I felt like in order to write it, it had to be worthy of Shakespeare, and I lacked that much wit with my words. It took years before I finally sat down and decided to try it out.
This particular poem was written during a time when I was reflecting on how many women have influenced my life who are now deceased. I thought about the ladies who were good leaders to me in my church during years I definitely needed that support. One of them actually passed away from cancer on my birthday not long after. My grandmother passed away not long before this, and she was actually the one I specifically had in mind when I wrote this. Others have passed on since, and with every additional influential woman in my life that I lose, this poem becomes more special to me. The women in our life are of great importance, and unfortunately sometimes we don't realize how much until we lose them.
