Divorce & Written Word
Divorce

Tears well in her eyes,
.......as she bids good-bye to this house,
.......from earliest childhood
.......and even in marriage,
.......a place called home.

The items, possessions – collections of her life
.......are neatly packed in boxes,
.......ready to move on.
She mourns, “Oh that my life
.......was so neatly packaged.”

Thinking back to the events leading to this parting,
.......little did she anticipate
.......the rough, gnarly road that lay ahead
.......and the heart-wrenching pain
.......along the way.

The breeze inches the partially closed door open
.......revealing the bright sun of a summer day.
With each opening creak
.......the light dances toward her.
Soon, she’s surrounded by warmth.

Stepping off the porch,
.......her heart now lighter,
.......she comprehends
.......that home is where it has always been,
.......Within.

Comments: Divorce is seldom a happy topic. Those who have experienced it understand the travails inherent within the process. This poem is based on true events of a young mother leaving a house in which she grew up and later lived in during her married life. (The house was considered joint property under that particular state's laws.) Since she could not afford to purchase his share of the house, it was placed on the market. The last two stanzas, however, offers a bit of hope.


Written Word
"In the beginning was the Word…"
.......so says the Apostle John of God.

Words... Words... convey so much.
A simple "I love you" whispered in the ear
.......can melt the heart,
.......but words of hate can break it.

Those spoken may be remembered for a lifetime,
.......but the written may last through time.
The Wisdom Teachings, The Classics, to name a few
.......have weathered the test of worthiness.
Even digital bytes can be recalled
.......by a click or two.

Read the words from an ancient poem
.......inscribed by a loving wife to her husband.

I promise to rest up for your return.
I will be waiting in our sacred place...
There we will allow this separation
To disappear as a distant memory.

Or Rumi to his beloved,

Do you not love yourself more
than you love me?

The beloved replied,
I have died to myself
and I live for you.

And Emily's poetic love verse,

Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in thee!


Centuries later, we sense the passion,
.......the dreams of human feeling.
They inspire though the spoken
.......has long passed into oblivion.

Oh, I love those whispers,
.......but greatly cherish written words
.......that touch me again and again.
Comments: One day I was leafing through some letters and later reading some rather erotic verse by great Sufi mystic and poet, Rumi, when I suddenly was hit with the differences between spoken words and written ones. While I realize that people can say beautiful or hurtful things to each other that are long remembered, in the scheme of history recorded words are the ones that withstand the tests of time. ["Emily" refers to Emily Dickinson (1830–86). The quote was from the last stanza of a poem included in a compilation of her works entitled Part Three: Love XXV. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown, 1924.]
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