The Shine Journal - The Light Left Behind
Journeys Through Grief and Beyond
The Sign (for Jill in memory of her mother)
by
Eira Needham
Are you there?
Silence plunges me deeper into
my sun starved chasm.
Please send me a sign that you are near;
the lure of your favourite perfume,
a whispered kiss on my cheek.
In dreams I'm swept into
a familiar room
you furnished with fun.
Photos grace magnolia walls.
Voices urge - don’t disturb her.
Reclined on the sofa. immersed
in poetry pages - you smile.
Sifting through a battered box
Silence plunges me deeper into
my sun starved chasm.
Please send me a sign that you are near;
the lure of your favourite perfume,
a whispered kiss on my cheek.
In dreams I'm swept into
a familiar room
you furnished with fun.
Photos grace magnolia walls.
Voices urge - don’t disturb her.
Reclined on the sofa. immersed
in poetry pages - you smile.
Sifting through a battered box
of once proudly displayed
snapshots of your grandson's,
my recollections tremble.
Wrapped in nostalgia’s shawl
I embrace my sons’ evolving phases--
snug in babygros
cuddled by Grandma -
school prints parade crisp uniforms
and shy smiles -
teenagers in torn jeans
wicked t-shirts and ruffled hair.
I jolt - my fingers fumbling
as cornflowers and daisies dance
in a gentle breeze, on the cover
of your cherished book
... of poems.
my recollections tremble.
Wrapped in nostalgia’s shawl
I embrace my sons’ evolving phases--
snug in babygros
cuddled by Grandma -
school prints parade crisp uniforms
and shy smiles -
teenagers in torn jeans
wicked t-shirts and ruffled hair.
I jolt - my fingers fumbling
as cornflowers and daisies dance
in a gentle breeze, on the cover
of your cherished book
... of poems.
Eira Needham lives in Birmingham UK with her husband and Dalmatian Max. She began writing in 2002 and her poetry is eclectic. She has been published in print and online. Her latest publications have been in The Linnet's Wings, Green Silk Magazine and Cyclamens & Swords and The Shine Journal. She was also Featured Writer in WestWard Quarterly in Spring 2013.