one last wet baby kiss, a poem

the quality of light that morning
stilled time, after days by her bedside,
listening to the stories in her breath ~
i heard her plants talking too, felt her
osteoarthritis in the settling of the house

they came to take her away; a blue
cover, feet peeking out, worn, plump,
pale in the sunrise, i walked before the
gurney, tossed rose petals from my heart,
gave her one last wet baby kiss …

….twenty years past

still i listen, i wait

sometimes i hear her voice on the wind, i feel
her arthritis in my bones; and always, i walk on her
worn feet, see her smile from my son’s eyes …

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7 Comments

extraordinarysunshineweaver says:

October 28, 2017 at 6:30 pm

Loss is very hard. My prayers and love!

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1. Jamie Dedes says:
  
  October 28, 2017 at 6:48 pm
  
  Yes it is … for all of us. Life! Thank you.
  
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Renee Espriu says:

October 24, 2017 at 8:36 pm

Such a beautiful homage…if this is one. It reads to me as though you are thinking/remembering being with your mom. I get the feeling that you were close. A touching read.

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Gretchen Del Rio says:

October 24, 2017 at 6:37 am

How beautiful and deeply inspired. My grandmother spent her adult years from age 30 to 74 mostly in bed due to a disease which deteriorated her muscles. She was spiritual, wise and loving and to this day she remains my teacher

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MOMENTS says:

October 24, 2017 at 5:02 am

Love the picture and the poem. They make a perfect match. The child is green in hope as a sign that despite the loss of a beloved person life goes on. Or is green also a sign of death as in García Lorca’s Romance Sonámbulo (Sleepwalking Ballad): http://lyricstranslate.com/en/romance-son%C3%A1mbulo-sleepwalking-ballad.html?

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John Tillack says:

October 23, 2017 at 8:51 am

I have experienced loss, along with the lingering presence of the one I have lost.
Love will keep others with us beyond the grave; it is a comfort to us, yet we will mourn. Thank you for this poem.

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1. Jamie Dedes says:
  
  October 23, 2017 at 8:14 pm
  
  Thank you reading and for taking the time to comment, John.
  
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