Saturday, January 9, 2021

Poetic Form 76: Elegy

 

Thoughts of a Son (an Elegy to Time)

I remember holding you
while mom rested. The Vikings
playing on the hospital 
TV. Remote on the bed 
rail. I wouldn’t give you up to
anyone, not even mom.
The world was brand new again.
I felt like everything was
possible. You learned to crawl,
then walk, and then run. We read
books in the middle of church.
Took walks so we could touch the
bark on the trees. Watch squirrels
play tag on the limbs. I tried
to show you how to reach the
horizon before the sun
burned away all the colors.
But now, now there is silence
at the dinner table that
echoes in my heart, leaving
me wishing I knew how to
stop the sun from falling so
far below the stars we use
to watch on late summer nights.
A baby boy grew into 
a child that became a teen
that stood inches above me.
Today you are a young man,
but time holds you as my son.


Poetic Form #76: Elegy
The formal definition of an elegy is a song of sorrow or mourning. 
Today, though, poets have written elegies for the ends of things, a life,
a relationship, even a football season. There are no rules on form. 
With an elegy the message matters.

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