The Hero’s Medicine Journey
I’m already blindfolded
So I closed my eyes to see
I took the holy host
and saw the deepest truth
I didn’t learn to be independent
by being left alone
when rocking and shaking
was my only voice
I followed a tender trail
of my little brother’s trauma
when he was Hansel and I was Gretel
Now I’m putting our house in order
and asking for the bill
I dreamt my brother’s pillow
was deeply stained
He was left in the bed
that he didn’t make
He didn’t learn to be brave
by being scared
I dreamt my life
was a rope bridge swinging
with a sign of steep incline
where resignation was a welcomed
step in the right direction
Don’t answer before
I ask the question
Don’t throw stones
but carefully lay them
Now I wash our laundry
by the moon’s waxing light
I let go of worn habits
and hold love in his absence
I leave breadcrumbs in poems
and forge the unknown
I hope we all get home
______Colleen Redman / dVerse Poets Pub / Poet’s and Storytellers United
October 24th, 2024 3:13 pm
Love what you did here with the contraditions.. seeing while blindfolded, be independent alone…
makes it all the more powerful
October 24th, 2024 3:27 pm
so many threads in this journey of life and loss, pulled together in that most wonderful line at the end
“I leave breadcrumbs in poems”
October 24th, 2024 3:33 pm
Colleen, your poem is achingly poignant. It resonates at a very deep level for me. Thank you for leaving breadcrumbs <3
October 24th, 2024 9:37 pm
So much poignancy and loss.
October 25th, 2024 12:09 am
I leave breadcrumbs in poems
and forge the unknown
I hope that we all get home – this is so achingly beautiful…
October 25th, 2024 1:33 am
I, too, like that last stanza. I also like the playful rhymes in the third too. Great write.
October 25th, 2024 2:55 am
Indeed, such a journey!
May your hopes be granted.
October 25th, 2024 5:32 am
That is immensely sad.
October 25th, 2024 5:41 am
I hope we all make home – Thank you for leaving the bread crumbs. Danny must be visiting you in spirit or a dream.
October 25th, 2024 7:20 am
You captured the ups and downs of life. Hoping that we all get home.
October 25th, 2024 8:52 am
Poignant poetry. Life as a rope bridge swinging is the image that resonated with me.
October 25th, 2024 9:36 am
Colleen, this is a poem where the uninformed reader will not understand all the references to personal history even though the sense of it is there – but, as others have noted before me, your wonderful last stanza, is not only clear, but one which many of us poets will identify with…
October 25th, 2024 9:41 am
I love the references to Hansel and Gretel in this poem, Colleen, the poignant memories of the brother, and these lines especially:
‘Now I wash our laundry
by the moon’s waxing light
I let go of worn habits
and hold love in his absence
I leave breadcrumbs in poems
and forge the unknown’.
October 25th, 2024 9:11 pm
In and out of sadness, yet filled with strength! This had my mind all over the place. Here’s to getting home!! A good write.
Pat
October 26th, 2024 2:15 pm
A powerful poem, Colleen. The words about your brother are very poignant.
October 26th, 2024 6:52 pm
“He didn’t learn to be brave by being scared.” This is a wonderfully rendered poem. I especially love the last two stanzas.
October 27th, 2024 11:12 am
Immensely sad and very powerful words Colleen. I hope you do get home.
Much love
Anna
October 27th, 2024 2:24 pm
Sadness, tragedy seep through the lines of your beautifully constructed poem, Colleen. ‘Don’t throw stones but carefully lay them’ my favorite line.