Thursday, January 15, 2015

Winter


Around the grey lagoon they paced,
he smug with conquest,
which had felt, to her,
more like assault than love.
This would be the pattern
until she was done.

Grey skies, grey water,
thick snow muffling the world
the way her numbness
muffled what otherwise
would have been impossible to face:
a grey, endless winter of the heart,
with spring eight long years away.



26 comments:

  1. sad...my immediate thought was of spousal abuse...and having been recently exposed to a bit of its nastiness...its stomach turning...and makes me rather angry

    ReplyDelete
  2. ...a grey, endless winter of the heart...

    Never has sadness and pain been so honestly/beautifully described.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Snow as ally softening the blows, grey as bearable within such a winter when the abuser still paces in the same circle--ouch. ouch. ouch.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Sherry ~~ Pretty soon here I was thinking of a bonded indenture servant type, confirmed when I hit the "eight years" bit. Possibly a 'hoe' and her 'pimp'? Sad plight, anyway.
    You told it nicely, lots of empathy developed for her.
    ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indentured servant or abusive marriage - same thing, Jim.......the spring is that much sweeter once she escapes.

      Delete
  5. This poem haunts-all that grey time wasted waiting for the heart to thaw-so sad!

    Well written, Sherry!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So sad when winter will dominate and creep in under the skin of a relationship..oh the misgivings of life.. Why do we do it for the wrong reason?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! What an excellent poem - part story, part examination of the human heart. Sterling work.

    ReplyDelete
  8. the last few lines are so beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  9. Winter is a trapper's season, isn't it? So glad you got out, even if there was some gnawing away to do it. Very cold and true winter words, Sherry.

    ReplyDelete
  10. There's no colder winter than that of the heart. You wrote about this beautifully. Sad that it took eight years to escape the cold. But that's how lfe works.

    ReplyDelete
  11. which had felt, to her,
    more like assault than love.
    This would be the pattern
    until she was done....

    Wow, Sherry, powerful lines... one of your best (of many)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sherry, every now and then you plumb a certain well of inspiration that results in writing like the first poem of yours that I loved, and this one too! I echo Kerry's "wow".

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow, that's powerful. Sad, and so very well written. If this is in any way autobiographical, I'm glad the time is up.

    ReplyDelete
  14. "the way her numbness
    muffled "… I can feel this… see her. Nice, Sherry.

    ReplyDelete
  15. oh heck... that made my heart bleed a bit...wish there could be spring and summer for her

    ReplyDelete
  16. I could feel the darkness the feeling of helplessness as she waits for spring.

    ReplyDelete
  17. A grey, endless winter of the heart would be difficult to endure.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh, the melancholy in this...the pain of truth.

    ReplyDelete
  19. this is heart-wrenching, Sherry! at least it did end.

    i hope the new year is treating you well.


    (if this is a duplicate comment, please delete~my first one disappeared.)

    ReplyDelete
  20. so glad I don't need to wait eight long year

    ReplyDelete
  21. a touch of sadness fear and desperation..but a ray of hope lurking nearby

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh, Sherry, what an amazing take on the prompt photo. Well done, but heartbreaking.
    K

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for visiting. I appreciate it and will return your visit soon.