June 4, 2007
We Regret to Inform You… - Poetry
We Regret to Inform You
When the guests have gone
And the silence descends…demanding attention
And patriotic families try to fill the empty
table seat with the hollow sounds of
bravery and sacrifice and honor
that bring no comfort to the shard-like
stillness of the night
When drawn by irresistible need
unwashed for all these days
a treasure with his scent still lingering
the nearest that you have to ‘presence’
and burying your face you let
the memories come crashing out
Breathe in a breath of life
And let the waters flow
Till all this ache within me ebbs
And heals my darkening soul
2 Comments on We Regret to Inform You… - Poetry »
September 7, 2007
Sandra Pullen @ 9:20 am:
Dear William
My best friend was murdered by her husband just after I read the shack. I know the lord was preparing my heart and I thought I would tell you that God used you to do so. The poem I found on your website “We regret to inform you” has been helpful to me and I would like to pass it on to my friends sister. Do I have permission to print and use it in this way?
May 23, 2008
Bart Breen @ 9:28 am:
TRhanks for your poem. It captures very well that tie to smell and remembrance.
This is a poem I wrote about my Father whom I had a very rough relationship.
A Bridge Never Seen - Revisited
we meet minutes before sunset
dragging our clinging pasts
plastered to our heels
from our privy place
yoked inseparably
……………pulled in tandem
prompted for this appointed event
the most provocative sunset
you’ll never see
the kind of sunset
we jointly concede as
umber
…………………….…spilling
………luminescent
………………………………redolent
daydeath begins……..light fades
we enter that suspension time
cross that ethereal bridge
as it reveals itself incrementally
you know the type
……not one of arches or pillars
………we reach absolute center
……………no more no less
i know as i’ve been here
……………many times
………………without you
……………measuring carefully
………………..obsessively
sunset crescendo plays; resonates
we turn at the appointed time
………………..to stare
……………generationally
into one another’s shared past
………….and matrixed present
………………until we see all
then, of course,
……i look away and jump
……..…just as you expected
………………just as you directed
you disengage slowly
…ruffle your paper
……dispel the mists
and dream of the day
…..you may
………finally
…deliver pizzas
……or sell tech stocks
..unable to appreciate the sunsets
…………you never saw
never suspecting
i-you-we live on
.thanks to Kafka
who caught me
or that i love you
© 4/12/2000 Bart Breen