Thursday, May 5, 2011

Your Soul Released, Having Risen (Poem)

Your Soul Released, Having Risen

   for Patrick
   March 25, 1950 - May 5, 2009

Those days
     you could not fathom,
          we counted out

of our range, too,
     each becoming another
          sworn into our more familiar blues,

the arguments of fictions
     mere proofs that love can't move
          the way such cells in you

then moved, overworking
     thyroid and lung to body entire,
          spreading the mischief unexorcised.

You stood
     only to fall that night,
          your last in your own house.

A call was made,
     the first of many known
          to seal one mother's hope

to sisters', their waiting somewhere ended.
     Two years on, what holds claim
          remains not how the priest

made the sign or bathed
     us all in incense and light
          but how we, with breath inhaled,

made motion to follow you
     to your fixed end on earth,
          your soul released, having risen.

© 2011 Maureen E. Doallas

16 comments:

Dawn Potter said...

A really lovely elegy, Maureen.

Glynn said...

Beautiful tribute to your brother, Maureen.

annell4 said...

Very beautiful!

Anonymous said...

It is my brother's birthday. I shall call him now and hold our conversation just a little closer. Thanks for putting into words what most cannot Maureen.

Reflections said...

Beautifully shared... always such a delicate topic... a sensitive time.

S. Etole said...

the journey home so beautifully written ...

Jeanne Damoff said...

"Your soul released, having risen." Such holy words, embodying mystery, faith, severing, comfort. Grace to you today as you remember the good-bye.

Love, Jeanne

the sad red earth said...

What a beautiful, formal dignity, Maureen, that last sentence truly an achievement. A testament to your skills and to you love.

the sad red earth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beachanny said...

So sad, so beautiful, so close Maureen. I know I will read this again and again. Thank you. Gay

Anonymous said...

Love

Anne Lang Bundy said...

May God make your joyful, life-filled memories of your beloved Patrick to loom larger than the painful ones, Maureen.

Padmavani said...

Dear Maureen
There is certain quality of quietness in this poem. Like as if these are just thoughts emanating out of you as you sit gracefully watching the sea.
Loved the poem. And I am sorry for void you and your family must feel without Patrick's physical presence.
Take care
Padmavani

Daisy Hickman said...

You captured life and death in this poem, Maureen, and that can be difficult to do, but and you also captured the spiritual journey that isn't greatly impacted by either. Thanks for sharing your tribute to Patrick -- it gives all of us courage to talk about loss in ways that are elegant, yet, profound. With friendship, Daisy

Ned said...

Penny(my wife) died on the beautiful spring morning of May 6th, 2008. Maureen (and Patrick) have given me the gift of a peaceful night.

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

A moving remembrance, Maureen. Though certainly not planned, but somehow fittingly, I reached the last page of my enriching journey through your book "Neruda's Memoirs" on this anniversary, so sorrowful yet somehow made uplifting by the depth of love and feeling in your words for your brother. Peace and love to you and your family.