Tears | pictured words

INTERMENT DAY

All day, the sky shed tears, and I,
at times.
I prayed no more tears, graveside,
but they fell

and fell

on faulty umbrellas
and baying bagpipe
and wailing sax
and tone of Taps
and stars
and stripes
and dated stones
and downcast cheeks
and woeful thoughts
and hard-fought fear

while lavish love
flowed fierce and full,
affecting a fragrance
of
unreserved grace.

Patricia A. Fagnano
March 16, 1931 – February 9, 2018

James F. Fagnano
January 7, 1932 – March 15, 2018

Mom and Dad, laid to rest.
In the presence of God
and the hearts of all,
the hardest day of my life,
and a thing of beauty
at once.

September 8, 2018
On the anniversary of their wedding.

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GRIEF

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Grief is a peculiar beast,
prowling when
and where
and how we least expect –
often at inopportune moments
when there is no fitting release
and nothing to do but cram it down,
thinking it will recede
and let us be,
but no
it lingers about,
then slinks in
at the next inopportune moment ,
chafing,
never ending,
like a run-on thought
or a spinning yarn
with no end in sight
and no

… funny,
how relief,
though brief,
comes conversely
through
tears,

and laughter.

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April 5, 2017

SYRIA (Sonnet for the Severed Souls)

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The images. The videos. The news.
The view from here is simply that – a view.
For I can just ignore it if I choose –
Not take in what I’ll wish I never knew.

But you? You watch your babies breathe their last
while hospitals are bombed before your eyes,
and lifeless neighbors’ bodies are amassed.
You plead for help to long-obscure allies.

I want to send for you, and beg you come –
To sing soft lullabies to sooth your sleep.
But see, you are a fearsome threat to some.
That takes me to my knees to heave and weep.

While dead and dying lie within your reach,
Your wails are hushed by those whom you beseech.

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June 18, 2015

TEACH WHAT MATTERS

What matters the skin
Or shape of the eyes
From which well the tears
Of final goodbyes?

What matters the weapon
When brandished with hate?

Teach precious ones love
While proud tongues debate.

15 Comments

Image | June 29, 2014

Infinite grace, unhindered and free Limitless mercy, darkness eclipsed Undeserved pardon, lavished on me Gratitude lies unexpressed on my lips Silence of tongue, and hands I can’t raise Words strung together fall short in their worth Only my tears are fluent in praise Here in my tears, my worship gives birth Eloquent tears spill praise […]

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Tag: Tears

September 9, 2018