Visiting my mother is filled with emotions for me. Bittersweet is a good word because she’s still here with us, but in many ways she is far from us. Her Alzheimer’s is advancing slowly at this point. Each visit she’s thinner and less able. Yet, she knows me and loves me and tries so hard to talk to me. This morning I will visit her before I drive back to Louisiana. Will this be the last time? Who knows?
At the hotel, I looked out at a beautiful sunrise. It reminded me of days sitting on the back porch with Mom and Dad looking at the lake behind their house. How I long for those easy days. There was always a heron that came to perch. All of these thoughts came when I read Brittany’s prompt to write about nature using 3 different colors.
Sunrise
I wake to sky color–
golden-white-lined gap
in purple-blue clouds
where sun rays sparkle
through
like angel wings.
Bittersweet grey clouds
hover high
like heaven’s shroud
reflected in heron’s stealth.
I imagine you next to me
with the news (all ghastly)
and your coffee mug steaming.
We sit in silence,
the silence of years between us
looking for the heron.
Margaret Simon, draft
The Kidlit Progressive Poem continues its ride through spring with Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link.
Reflections on the Teche 
What strong imagery! Favorites include: bittersweet grey clouds, like heaven’s shroud, and the silence of years between us. Beautifully written.
Margaret, Virginia has beautiful sunsets and my husband and I always commented on how magnificent they looked. Sunset washed over you in this photo, painting the sky with three different colors. Appreciate the silence you share in your grief poem. My thoughts and prayers are with you today.
Your ending lines are so poignant. I’m holding you close in my thoughts and heart today.
As always you chose just the right words to capture the intense feelings and strong emotions of your memories on that porch in better times. May your time with your mom have some good memories for you.
Wow! Margaret–this is so poignant, beautiful and sad at the same time. “The silence of years between us…” Sending love and strength as you weather this challenging time in life.
I love how the sunrise and the heron “speak” to your heart, Margaret. I recall your dad’s sketches of herons, and somewhere, it seems, I read that herons can represent the maternal. One’s mother. I will have to hunt that up again – I saw a heron rising unexpectedly from a ditch bank right around the time I learned my mother had passed (with all that’s wrapped up in that sad story). Yet – there’s a such sense of freedom and solace in sighting this bird. “Heaven’s shroud/reflected in heron’s stealth” – oh, how i understand, and how I love your poem. Heaven is not really so far from us, says Heron. Peace to you, friend.
Your comments are always so specific and encouraging. I agree heaven is not far. I certainly feel a spiritual presence when I’m walking.
I ached at the reading. It was simply beautiful.