Take 5ive Themed Issue : Love & Loss
Take 5ive Theme : Love and Loss
Anne Curran
the candle light
burns steady
in falling dusk -
the memory of
your hand in mine
power cut -
the candle he gifted me
before passing
burns a night vigil
at my bedside
Ed Higgins
December scent
rains coming down
sodden leaves underfoot
seeping melancholy
your lost love
your flowing red hair
crackling fire
igniting my love
heartbeats of desire
lust’s blazing flames
Marilyn Humbert
the heartache
of my faraway friend’s
loneliness…
her unsteady voice,
the forced facetime smiles
bedside vigil
weighed down by Mum’s
last words
I fade and disappear in
the mountain’s shadow
the barren fields
of father’s frugal life
all that remains
a battered felt hat
on a bent five-bar gate
Barbara Anna Gaiardoni
defeat
of the team
of the heart
hurts more
and more
Jackie Chou
winter chill
untended poinsettias
by the care home door…
how many Christmases
have passed without mom
the grass
covered with golden leaves
the shape of tears…
autumn deepens
without your footfall
so much longing
in the sound of a xiao flute
those Chinese stories
of star-crossed lovers
that baffled me as a child
Mark Gilbert
wedding photo
I just don’t know
who looks more pleased,
he or she,
in that sepia moment
this path
of purple
and turquoise
just wide enough
to hold hands
Steven Mayoff
Scars
Muddy tracks glisten,
icing over into welts.
Pale winter stars weep
down on these lava-red scars.
Oozing up from sleep, grief melts.
Bryan Rickert
seeds scattered
by the wind
will my love
ever take root
in her heart
leaves
carried away
by the stream
it seems like yesterday
our love was in bloom
owl calls
left unanswered
better
not to ask why
you don’t love me
Chen-ou Liu
my friend remarks
home is where the heart is
as the bus arrives
I murmur, my heart's split
between two places, an ocean apart
poetry books
stacked double on shelves
from floor to ceiling ...
too full yet too empty
on my friend's blood-stained note
some light bulbs
in mother's mind sputter out
as others dim...
I'm her caregiver, and yet
often treated like a stranger
Susan Burch
giving her
half a hug
tonight
feeling stingy
with my love
the death
of Lehabah --
how even
a fictional character
can break your heart
a carolina wren
twirling its happiness
into the air
how tweet it feels
to be loved by you
Giuliana Ravaglia
Preludio
Alzai gli occhi verso di lui
respirò aria e sole la mia anima
misterioso e nudo quel primo sguardo
imprevedibile preludio d'un vergine incanto
come l'alba d'un cielo puro
Prelude
I rolled my eyes at him
my soul breathed air and sun
mysterious and naked that first glance
unpredictable prelude to a virgin enchantment
like the dawn of a pure sky
Forse
Forse oggi è solo sera
battiti d'amore bruciati dal silenzio
ritorneranno a scaldare speranze
irromperà l'aurora
oscurando ogni dolore
Perhaps
Maybe today is just evening
beats of love burned by silence
they will return to warm hopes
the dawn will break
obscuring all pain
Controvento
Nessuna nube oscurerà i tuoi occhi
vele feconde di vagabonde follie
morderai le piene dell'autunno
baciando controvento rivoli chiari
e sarai l'estate
Upwind
No clouds will darken your eyes
fruitful sails of vagabond follies
you will bite the floods of autumn
kissing clear rivulets against the wind
and you will be the summer
Hassane Zemmouri
exam day-
melting in the child's mouth
a cube of sugar
the mother's smile
whispers a prayer
old cookie cutters-
my nephew naming the shapes
one by one
my longing
has the scent of vanilla
Debbie Strange
kinkeepers . . .
the invisible women
loving
behind the scenes
of our everyday lives
the linden tree
outside our window
cradling snow . . .
we open ourselves
to one another
the dam
has been breached
once more
we are swept along
in surges of sorrow
Anthony Lusardi
gynaecology centre
holding
her swollen belly
the doctor
gives the results
the lifespan
of weeping cherries;
all the memories
i still have
from our first kiss
taking her picture
all the poses she makes
trying to look perfect
all i need
is her smile
Roberta Beach Jacobson
getting
a little ahead of myself
mailing
three scented envelopes
letters yet unwritten
times of war
a plague in the garden
rose petals
cover gravestones of fighters
no matter what their beliefs
I project
my fears onto my friends
not
all of my fears as
a few must remain with me
Tonia Kalouria
A LOSS FOR WORDS
Excited Google Search for long-lost lover!
Wonder which state he lives in now? Nearby?
Still married? Widower? Remarried?
Single by some miracle?
…Difficult to read week-old Obituary through tears.
REQUIEM POUR TROIS
She tenderly cradles each preemie — one in each arm.
She proudly “shows off” each preemie — one in each arm.
She lovingly gazes at each preemie — one in each arm.
She sobs “goodbye” to each preemie — one in each arm.
She is buried with her babies — one in each arm.
James Penha
Jim Loved; Jim Lost
“Jim Jarmusch!”
the woman called out
approaching me mystified in the cinema
lobby where no Jarmusch film played and where
never was I—whose hair remains tawny—he.
Jerome Berglund
live flowers
on five dollar shelf
don’t overlook
fight in them yet
pink tulips
Gail Brooks
young lovers
sigh behind purple vines
ripples
in the pond
reveal mating turtles
crumpled tissues
tear-stained near my pillow
where once
white wrinkled sheets
were signs of happiness
Ram Chandran
avoiding her eyes,
I asked why
we loved each other so much
and why
we decided to part now
you have gone
beyond the reach of moonlight
still I feel your breath
when I wake up
in the middle of the night
Wendy Gent
all night i waited
at your bedside, finally
i’m ready to leave ...
your last words to me
before the soft light of dawn
twilight
our final goodbye
the palette shifts
to black and white
only our shadows touch
distant memories
fade like summer colours
a newsreel passing of time
all the things you’ve missed, and yet ...
a sense of your presence
C.X.Turner
falling from my hands
worn down
heart-shaped
this pebble lands
in a splash of sorrow
deep in wild woods
under crunching snow
my love hibernates
to emerge
when it’s safe to bloom
the cold ache
and winter crunch
of snow on my boots
the resolve to stop
loving you fails
Ruth Holzer
myriad lights
of a strange city
glittering
leading me nowhere
the night I lost you
when you left
you promised to greet me
again one day
smiling, your arms
full of cherry blossoms
Dad's birthday
a hundred years ago--
how worried
he would have been about me
in this season of plague
Farah Ali
FLAME
delicate creature
yearning
flitting towards her own
demise…the warmth of that final
moment
SEPARATION
wing and sky
darkness and light
the raven’s shadow
peels away…
winter dusk
Bonnie J Scherer
your Lento
to my Vivace
leaves us
out of tune …
a love gone flat
barren landscape
too hostile for life
its soil desiccated
and infertile …
wasteland of the heart
daylight
l e n g t h e n s …
still my heart
does not
sing
Tuyet Van Do
she grieves
for
the sparks
there once were
no longer present
striving forward
they try to
leave
behind
lost time
Tracy Davidson
along the river
she liked to sit by
love still flows
I clutch the wooden box
that bears her ashes
a shaky smile
in her last photograph
the pain
she tried so hard to hide
transfers to me
ashes of roses
she strokes the velvet lining
of a small coffin
her husband reading aloud
one final bedtime story
Mirela Brăilean
walking alone
on the crowded beach -
even though I know
you have gone forever
I still see you all around
the fragrance
of the cherry trees in bloom
fill the streets -
without you in my life
my soul remains empty
Daniel Birnbaum
each of us a handle
for you the luggage
for me the door
occupied hands
cannot wave goodbye
the bell
in the distance
too close
the wedding of my friend
with my friend
Joy McCall
where do we turn
when we need help?
to the deep pools
of love that hide
in all the shadows
what is distance?
we can be far apart
but still close
love knows nothing
about miles or time
paralysed, I dream
of walking on the shore
picking pebbles
I wake with empty hands
my pillow wet with salt tears
Michael H Lester
finally over
the pain and humiliation
of being dumped
now I’ve found a new love
the old one wants me back
never thought
I could love a puppy
like I do
though he bites my ankles
and my shirt sleeves too
she cheated
and oh! how she lied
my first love
the sound of every footfall
like an arrow to the heart
Rebecca Kolstad
memories of you
float like flotsam
into my conscious
a few
worth salvaging
mother's orchid
still barren
on my windowsill
then, a rare bloom
finally smiling
three years
since we sat vigil
holding your quiet hands
memorizing
your face
Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo
the wind howls
faint weeping down the hallway
is anyone there
the cold fans her face
how long has it been
his last goodbye kiss
take me with you
the gale drowns out
her plea buried
many moons ago
Gabriel Rosenstock
tá sé i ngach neach
an crann seo amach san fhómhar
i ngáire an pháiste
i dtost an tsaoi mhachnamhaigh
is cuimhne mhilis ar phóg
it's in everyone
this lone tree of late autumn
in the laughing child
in the silent brooding sage
and in a remembered kiss
nochtann tú mar néal
agus imíonn tú arís
sa spás ama sin –
soicind amháin, míle bliain –
cad go díreach a tharla?
cloud-like You appear
then You disappear again
in that space of time –
a second, a thousand years –
what exactly has occurred?
á, dá mbeinn i m'éan
chosnóinn thú, a thaisce
agus chanfainn duit:
i gciúnas na foraoise
an saoi is Shakúntála
ah, were i a bird
i'd protect you, Belovèd
and i'd sing for you
in the silence of a wood
a sage found Shakuntala
Mircea Moldovan
what's left
after the words of endearment
the tracks of your steps
and a frozen rose
on a stone bench
icicles dripping
in the zipped suitcase
you put thick socks
and a used laptop
to play Solitaire
bitter moon
I don't remember the name
of the dog with blue eyes
near the garden grave
Eskimo´s spirit
Jon Hare
warm night
in the soft breeze
restless leaves
your breath
mixed with mine
someone else's perfume
in an empty elevator
lingering …
your hand drew away
as the door closed
losing the path
to the setting sun
the words
describing your beauty
no longer mine
Paula Frew
I Have Loved
I have loved one man with my whole heart,
and he loved me likewise.
Grandpa was a poor farmer
who loved me richly and fully.
he left me when I was twelve, too young.
A 21-Year Story
I was a woman-ette
when we first met.
We were married until you split.
21 years and then you quit.
When you texted, I wanted to be over it.
Staying in Love
Across the great divide, my sorrow does echo.
Along the open prairie, my mind does reminisce.
Above the grand mountains, my heart searches.
Who says we can’t stay in love?
Alvin Cruz
a raindrop
balancing itself
on a bamboo leaf...
between living with
and living without you
the cashmere scarf
you left behind
the lingering scent
of loneliness fills
each empty space
my echo
in an empty room
the way
loneliness
repeats itself
Steve Wilkinson
Snow
Melts as quickly
As it fell -
Why is it that love
Must follow the same pattern ?
“In the last days
There will be no
Natural affection” -
Maybe these words are the only ones
I really believe
Anne Curran
the candle light
burns steady
in falling dusk -
the memory of
your hand in mine
power cut -
the candle he gifted me
before passing
burns a night vigil
at my bedside
Ed Higgins
December scent
rains coming down
sodden leaves underfoot
seeping melancholy
your lost love
your flowing red hair
crackling fire
igniting my love
heartbeats of desire
lust’s blazing flames
Marilyn Humbert
the heartache
of my faraway friend’s
loneliness…
her unsteady voice,
the forced facetime smiles
bedside vigil
weighed down by Mum’s
last words
I fade and disappear in
the mountain’s shadow
the barren fields
of father’s frugal life
all that remains
a battered felt hat
on a bent five-bar gate
Barbara Anna Gaiardoni
defeat
of the team
of the heart
hurts more
and more
Jackie Chou
winter chill
untended poinsettias
by the care home door…
how many Christmases
have passed without mom
the grass
covered with golden leaves
the shape of tears…
autumn deepens
without your footfall
so much longing
in the sound of a xiao flute
those Chinese stories
of star-crossed lovers
that baffled me as a child
Mark Gilbert
wedding photo
I just don’t know
who looks more pleased,
he or she,
in that sepia moment
this path
of purple
and turquoise
just wide enough
to hold hands
Steven Mayoff
Scars
Muddy tracks glisten,
icing over into welts.
Pale winter stars weep
down on these lava-red scars.
Oozing up from sleep, grief melts.
Bryan Rickert
seeds scattered
by the wind
will my love
ever take root
in her heart
leaves
carried away
by the stream
it seems like yesterday
our love was in bloom
owl calls
left unanswered
better
not to ask why
you don’t love me
Chen-ou Liu
my friend remarks
home is where the heart is
as the bus arrives
I murmur, my heart's split
between two places, an ocean apart
poetry books
stacked double on shelves
from floor to ceiling ...
too full yet too empty
on my friend's blood-stained note
some light bulbs
in mother's mind sputter out
as others dim...
I'm her caregiver, and yet
often treated like a stranger
Susan Burch
giving her
half a hug
tonight
feeling stingy
with my love
the death
of Lehabah --
how even
a fictional character
can break your heart
a carolina wren
twirling its happiness
into the air
how tweet it feels
to be loved by you
Giuliana Ravaglia
Preludio
Alzai gli occhi verso di lui
respirò aria e sole la mia anima
misterioso e nudo quel primo sguardo
imprevedibile preludio d'un vergine incanto
come l'alba d'un cielo puro
Prelude
I rolled my eyes at him
my soul breathed air and sun
mysterious and naked that first glance
unpredictable prelude to a virgin enchantment
like the dawn of a pure sky
Forse
Forse oggi è solo sera
battiti d'amore bruciati dal silenzio
ritorneranno a scaldare speranze
irromperà l'aurora
oscurando ogni dolore
Perhaps
Maybe today is just evening
beats of love burned by silence
they will return to warm hopes
the dawn will break
obscuring all pain
Controvento
Nessuna nube oscurerà i tuoi occhi
vele feconde di vagabonde follie
morderai le piene dell'autunno
baciando controvento rivoli chiari
e sarai l'estate
Upwind
No clouds will darken your eyes
fruitful sails of vagabond follies
you will bite the floods of autumn
kissing clear rivulets against the wind
and you will be the summer
Hassane Zemmouri
exam day-
melting in the child's mouth
a cube of sugar
the mother's smile
whispers a prayer
old cookie cutters-
my nephew naming the shapes
one by one
my longing
has the scent of vanilla
Debbie Strange
kinkeepers . . .
the invisible women
loving
behind the scenes
of our everyday lives
the linden tree
outside our window
cradling snow . . .
we open ourselves
to one another
the dam
has been breached
once more
we are swept along
in surges of sorrow
Anthony Lusardi
gynaecology centre
holding
her swollen belly
the doctor
gives the results
the lifespan
of weeping cherries;
all the memories
i still have
from our first kiss
taking her picture
all the poses she makes
trying to look perfect
all i need
is her smile
Roberta Beach Jacobson
getting
a little ahead of myself
mailing
three scented envelopes
letters yet unwritten
times of war
a plague in the garden
rose petals
cover gravestones of fighters
no matter what their beliefs
I project
my fears onto my friends
not
all of my fears as
a few must remain with me
Tonia Kalouria
A LOSS FOR WORDS
Excited Google Search for long-lost lover!
Wonder which state he lives in now? Nearby?
Still married? Widower? Remarried?
Single by some miracle?
…Difficult to read week-old Obituary through tears.
REQUIEM POUR TROIS
She tenderly cradles each preemie — one in each arm.
She proudly “shows off” each preemie — one in each arm.
She lovingly gazes at each preemie — one in each arm.
She sobs “goodbye” to each preemie — one in each arm.
She is buried with her babies — one in each arm.
James Penha
Jim Loved; Jim Lost
“Jim Jarmusch!”
the woman called out
approaching me mystified in the cinema
lobby where no Jarmusch film played and where
never was I—whose hair remains tawny—he.
Jerome Berglund
live flowers
on five dollar shelf
don’t overlook
fight in them yet
pink tulips
Gail Brooks
young lovers
sigh behind purple vines
ripples
in the pond
reveal mating turtles
crumpled tissues
tear-stained near my pillow
where once
white wrinkled sheets
were signs of happiness
Ram Chandran
avoiding her eyes,
I asked why
we loved each other so much
and why
we decided to part now
you have gone
beyond the reach of moonlight
still I feel your breath
when I wake up
in the middle of the night
Wendy Gent
all night i waited
at your bedside, finally
i’m ready to leave ...
your last words to me
before the soft light of dawn
twilight
our final goodbye
the palette shifts
to black and white
only our shadows touch
distant memories
fade like summer colours
a newsreel passing of time
all the things you’ve missed, and yet ...
a sense of your presence
C.X.Turner
falling from my hands
worn down
heart-shaped
this pebble lands
in a splash of sorrow
deep in wild woods
under crunching snow
my love hibernates
to emerge
when it’s safe to bloom
the cold ache
and winter crunch
of snow on my boots
the resolve to stop
loving you fails
Ruth Holzer
myriad lights
of a strange city
glittering
leading me nowhere
the night I lost you
when you left
you promised to greet me
again one day
smiling, your arms
full of cherry blossoms
Dad's birthday
a hundred years ago--
how worried
he would have been about me
in this season of plague
Farah Ali
FLAME
delicate creature
yearning
flitting towards her own
demise…the warmth of that final
moment
SEPARATION
wing and sky
darkness and light
the raven’s shadow
peels away…
winter dusk
Bonnie J Scherer
your Lento
to my Vivace
leaves us
out of tune …
a love gone flat
barren landscape
too hostile for life
its soil desiccated
and infertile …
wasteland of the heart
daylight
l e n g t h e n s …
still my heart
does not
sing
Tuyet Van Do
she grieves
for
the sparks
there once were
no longer present
striving forward
they try to
leave
behind
lost time
Tracy Davidson
along the river
she liked to sit by
love still flows
I clutch the wooden box
that bears her ashes
a shaky smile
in her last photograph
the pain
she tried so hard to hide
transfers to me
ashes of roses
she strokes the velvet lining
of a small coffin
her husband reading aloud
one final bedtime story
Mirela Brăilean
walking alone
on the crowded beach -
even though I know
you have gone forever
I still see you all around
the fragrance
of the cherry trees in bloom
fill the streets -
without you in my life
my soul remains empty
Daniel Birnbaum
each of us a handle
for you the luggage
for me the door
occupied hands
cannot wave goodbye
the bell
in the distance
too close
the wedding of my friend
with my friend
Joy McCall
where do we turn
when we need help?
to the deep pools
of love that hide
in all the shadows
what is distance?
we can be far apart
but still close
love knows nothing
about miles or time
paralysed, I dream
of walking on the shore
picking pebbles
I wake with empty hands
my pillow wet with salt tears
Michael H Lester
finally over
the pain and humiliation
of being dumped
now I’ve found a new love
the old one wants me back
never thought
I could love a puppy
like I do
though he bites my ankles
and my shirt sleeves too
she cheated
and oh! how she lied
my first love
the sound of every footfall
like an arrow to the heart
Rebecca Kolstad
memories of you
float like flotsam
into my conscious
a few
worth salvaging
mother's orchid
still barren
on my windowsill
then, a rare bloom
finally smiling
three years
since we sat vigil
holding your quiet hands
memorizing
your face
Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo
the wind howls
faint weeping down the hallway
is anyone there
the cold fans her face
how long has it been
his last goodbye kiss
take me with you
the gale drowns out
her plea buried
many moons ago
Gabriel Rosenstock
tá sé i ngach neach
an crann seo amach san fhómhar
i ngáire an pháiste
i dtost an tsaoi mhachnamhaigh
is cuimhne mhilis ar phóg
it's in everyone
this lone tree of late autumn
in the laughing child
in the silent brooding sage
and in a remembered kiss
nochtann tú mar néal
agus imíonn tú arís
sa spás ama sin –
soicind amháin, míle bliain –
cad go díreach a tharla?
cloud-like You appear
then You disappear again
in that space of time –
a second, a thousand years –
what exactly has occurred?
á, dá mbeinn i m'éan
chosnóinn thú, a thaisce
agus chanfainn duit:
i gciúnas na foraoise
an saoi is Shakúntála
ah, were i a bird
i'd protect you, Belovèd
and i'd sing for you
in the silence of a wood
a sage found Shakuntala
Mircea Moldovan
what's left
after the words of endearment
the tracks of your steps
and a frozen rose
on a stone bench
icicles dripping
in the zipped suitcase
you put thick socks
and a used laptop
to play Solitaire
bitter moon
I don't remember the name
of the dog with blue eyes
near the garden grave
Eskimo´s spirit
Jon Hare
warm night
in the soft breeze
restless leaves
your breath
mixed with mine
someone else's perfume
in an empty elevator
lingering …
your hand drew away
as the door closed
losing the path
to the setting sun
the words
describing your beauty
no longer mine
Paula Frew
I Have Loved
I have loved one man with my whole heart,
and he loved me likewise.
Grandpa was a poor farmer
who loved me richly and fully.
he left me when I was twelve, too young.
A 21-Year Story
I was a woman-ette
when we first met.
We were married until you split.
21 years and then you quit.
When you texted, I wanted to be over it.
Staying in Love
Across the great divide, my sorrow does echo.
Along the open prairie, my mind does reminisce.
Above the grand mountains, my heart searches.
Who says we can’t stay in love?
Alvin Cruz
a raindrop
balancing itself
on a bamboo leaf...
between living with
and living without you
the cashmere scarf
you left behind
the lingering scent
of loneliness fills
each empty space
my echo
in an empty room
the way
loneliness
repeats itself
Steve Wilkinson
Snow
Melts as quickly
As it fell -
Why is it that love
Must follow the same pattern ?
“In the last days
There will be no
Natural affection” -
Maybe these words are the only ones
I really believe
