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Friday, September 24, 2010

Once In Autumn........


Once in Autumn.......
Nekiah hand-stitched
every single leaf
to make Tree Spirit
costumes
for you and
your friend, 
Isaac Blue Sky.

How could we know
back then
just how precious
were those fleeting
days of grace?
Just how fast
it all was
flying by?

First, you grew.
Before I knew it,
before I was ready,
you were
out of the nest
and away,
living all
of your heartbreaks
and hard times,
so young and heedless
and rash,
my hair slowly
turning
the color
of silvery ash.

Nekiah is gone.
It was cancer.
And Isaac Blue Sky's
life has been
fractured.

Those innocent faces
up there,
those round
trusting eyes
that enraptured,
those smiles
that had not yet
known pain........
remind me
that
once,
once in autumn,
we all lived
precious days
that will
not,
will not ever
come
again.

23 comments:

  1. time really flies so fast. before we know it, the best years passed us by and you'd wonder where it all went. i have 3 lovely kids and i live for them. i don't want to miss a single moment because one day, when we all look back, i want us to remember happy memories of their childhood.

    this is such a moving poem, sherry. you always have a way of touching your readers' hearts. thanks for sharing.

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  2. Wow, where to start with this? Those costumes are amazing! I've never seen anything quite like these, which makes sense since they were hand made. I love them. Then, oh, their faces!

    What a poem you've written here, Sherry. This is my second favorite of yours, after "These Days." The whole thing is moving, but it was the last stanza that really got to me. Have you ever read "Time Is" by Henry Van Dyke? The San Franciso 60s band It's A Beautiful Day made it into a song, later. This reminds me a bit of that. So well done, my friend.

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  3. I love this poem, coming to your blog is like going on an easter egg hunt, discovering treats and treasures everywhere. I enjoy the pictures alot too :)

    I'd love to be that silent tree
    In a simple untouched forest
    When those perfect golden leaves
    sink to the earth below
    leaving a vision
    of a world exactly as it was meant to be

    THOSE WERE KICK ASS COSTUMES! And, I never knew about Nekiah, and will send good thoughts to Isaac. Steph was the cutest kid i've EVER seen! xx

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  4. You have captured the joys and woes of life from a single photo and pointed out how all lives are intertwined, how we are all indissoluble from our pasts. The griefs are the griefs of Autumn.

    Stunning poem.

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  5. the growth and beauty in your poem is obvious...
    lovely piece.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  6. That is a precious photo...as someone who has lost many family and friends on this life's journey, I can definitely say it is a blessing to be able to preserve folks in words and memories as you have done here...thank you for sharing this.

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  7. Funny, I didnt think I was going to write a poem for the prompt this time. Then this just came. Yes, autumn seems to be bringing out grief in me, for some reason -for my old wolf-dog, for my life? One grief touches off others, I suppose. Lisa, what a beautiful poem within your comment! And I will look up Time Is..........thank you all for reading and commenting.........this old gray head is still coughing up memories, hee hee! There Will Be More!

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  8. 'How could we know..how precious were those fleeting days of grace?' Such true words, Sherry! My old memory is failing, but I still recall perfectly the joy I saw reflected in my own little Tree Spirits at that age. Such a wonderful post, reminding us how precious every passing day is...

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  9. It is interesting sometime to go back and look at a picture taken in the past, as you did, and then think of what all has happened after that. Here are two little boys enjoying life, smiling, celebrating Halloween....and some years later all has changed. I guess that the lesson for me is the same lesson I get so many times....we have to live and appreciate each day. We don't know what will be around the corner. You didn't when this picture was taken. The boys didn't. And if a picture would be taken of our lives today, well we don't know what tomorrow brings...ever.

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  10. I suppose I should have explained, at least a little: the little girl on the right is my daughter, Stephanie, with her best friend at the time, Isaac. The photo was taken thirty years ago - I am going through a rather nostalgic time of it these days - so much has happened to all of us since then. My daughter has gone through a lot of heartbreak in her life, as has Isaac, as have we all............yes, a glimpse of life Before, during very happy days.........and again now, from such a distance, having traveled so far.........life is an amazing journey.

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  11. So beautiful - and the last lines reminded me of Camelot; even in autumn and winter we remember our Camelots. Thank you for this...

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  12. Nice to remember the before the haze of pain arrived. Childhood innocent and carefree mentality, before heartbreak n' illness.
    It was an amazing poem, sharing life
    the grace, the fall of our lives.
    We all must drop like the autumn leaves and hope we aren't shattered by our journeys~xXx

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  13. Ellie, your comment is a poem or haiku in itself! "and hope we arent shattered in our journeys". Wow!

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  14. Well that was absolutely beautiful mom, and of course made me cry! I love you and am fortunate to have the best mom that one could ever dream of:) You made sure our childhood was full of love. xoxo

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  15. So cool you finally got to see this:)

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  16. Such a pleasure to revisit this poem, Sherry. I love the capture of the changing seasons in the lives of two little boys.

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  17. Every leaf has two sides, and you show them both, their beauty and their pain, here Sherry. Love the costumes and the children's happy faces. I also find autumn sad, but not as sad as winter. Each season, though, has its own message for us, that we hear maybe a bit clearer as we get older.

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  18. Your poem is like the costumes, Sherry, beautifully hand-stitched from fallen leaves of life.

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  19. Beautiful fall costumes, and a bittersweet, nostalgic quality to the poem. For me it has a Camelot-like feel to it... reading the final lines I could hear Richard Harris singing his nostalgic lament on how it used to be.

    And hey, I just realized I have an earlier comment up there in which I said more or less the same thing... But it is a lovely piece, and I think I appreciate it even more the second time around. :)

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  20. wonderful, heartfelt and very very true.Its difficult to comment on memories as personal as these.Is there really consolation for lost loved ones?Only those who lose know the haunting void that refuses to vanish or rather which we wont allow to vanish for our own sake.I wish you and your loved ones the very best.keep writing.

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  21. Oh Sherry, you have such a wonderful way of capturing the essence of things - and this was a beautiful example of that, I loved it. x

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  22. oh this poem gave me a tummyache and the sniffles both. but i am so pleased to see your daughter commenting up above.

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