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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.

for Fireblossom Friday's prompt at Real Toads: Winter


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26 comments:

  1. Brian MillerJanuary 15, 2015 at 3:05 PM

    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

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  2. GailJanuary 15, 2015 at 3:25 PM

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

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

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  3. SusanJanuary 15, 2015 at 6:33 PM

    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. JimJanuary 15, 2015 at 6:56 PM

    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. Sherry Blue SkyJanuary 15, 2015 at 8:02 PM

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

      Delete
  5. EllaJanuary 15, 2015 at 7:05 PM

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

    Well written, Sherry!

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  6. brudbergJanuary 15, 2015 at 8:28 PM

    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?

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  7. Kerry O'ConnorJanuary 15, 2015 at 11:02 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  8. SuyashJJanuary 15, 2015 at 11:24 PM

    the last few lines are so beautiful

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  9. hedgewitchJanuary 16, 2015 at 5:31 AM

    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.

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  10. Myrna R.January 16, 2015 at 7:49 AM

    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.

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  11. Liz Rice-SosneJanuary 16, 2015 at 7:54 AM

    Sherry I really love this poem.

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  12. Debi SwimJanuary 16, 2015 at 8:00 AM

    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
  13. FireblossomJanuary 16, 2015 at 8:49 AM

    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".

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  14. Other MaryJanuary 16, 2015 at 9:23 AM

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

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  15. MargaretJanuary 16, 2015 at 10:42 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  16. ClaudiaJanuary 16, 2015 at 12:02 PM

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

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  17. TruedessaJanuary 16, 2015 at 3:32 PM

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

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  18. MaryJanuary 16, 2015 at 5:44 PM

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

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  19. Susie ClevengerJanuary 16, 2015 at 7:06 PM

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

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  20. my heart's love songsJanuary 17, 2015 at 3:32 AM

    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.)

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  21. WolfsrosebudJanuary 17, 2015 at 5:05 AM

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

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  22. Anjum Wasim DarJanuary 17, 2015 at 8:04 AM

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

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  23. Kay L. DaviesJanuary 17, 2015 at 1:38 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  24. HannahJanuary 18, 2015 at 5:23 PM

    Powerful and emotive, Sherry.

    ReplyDelete
  25. grapelingFebruary 4, 2015 at 10:18 PM

    the quiet here, the patience... ~

    ReplyDelete

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