Poem(s) : Grief
Ashok Subramanian
Poet | Author | Poetry Review | Book Review | Featured Contributor at BIZCATALYST 360
Grief is something I realized when my parent passed away. I refused to believe grief until I embraced it so I could live.
Grief is the emotion that allows one to cope with loss. There is the person you remember but no more to remember with.
There is something about grief that attracts poets and artists alike. Grief is the most profound emotion to express, if one can. It comes from the heart, rich and bountiful of profundity.
“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”
―?Leo Tolstoy
Sarah Polyakov’s artwork ‘Grief’ conceals more than it reveals. This is not simple artistry but is soaked in deep meaning. So she went one step further unlocking the emotions through her profound poem with the same title.
Here is the wonderful painting.
As you can realize and relish Sarah’s artwork, her words wrap her loss within a philosophical garb.
Poem: ‘Passage of Grief’ by Sarah
The grief of yesterday’s that could have been,
Hangs heavy in the air.
A race that no one can seem to win,
A path they wish they could revoke,
Like a turn of the hand gone up like smoke.
The vastness of loss to gain,
A reminder of what could have been,
Memories are haunting footsteps,
And have no care for pain.
Time is a thief that never sleeps,
And yesterday is long gone by,
Gloom sometimes gives way, as memory keeps,
Amid the chilling knowledge that the past can never rectify.
A thousand miles from your voice,
Etched in stone, sewn deep into my cells,
Lost chances in time and space; out of reach,
A burden to bear; an endless well.
(Sarah Polyakov, 2023)
Sarah’s invite to Priya, the master of melancholy, did not go unanswered. Her version of loss is profound and pours from her heart. This elegy is about her mom.
Poem: ‘ Grief’ by Priya
I’ve lost count of how often
I have played
the “what if” game;
perhaps, even then,
everything would have
been the same;
perhaps losing you
was a way to find me,
no matter how I kept
myself sane
I keep playing those few moments
when I could have changed the time,
when I could have pleaded for you to stay,
then everything would be fine
There would be no car
crashing into you,
no hospitals, no blood,
no ICU’s
If I would have just tried a little harder
to keep you with me,
then, mom, you would still be here,
right beside me
and everything would just be right
I can’t turn back time
I can’t change life’s directions
I can’t wish for a different ending
There are no fixes or corrections
领英推荐
It’s just me and the weight of the world
without you …
( Priya, 2023)
The invite to share grief through poetic collaboration is a noble deed. With such profound and painful versions of poetry flowing, I sought to lean on nature — rivers and seasons to compose this.
Poem: ‘Grief is relief’ by Ashok
I wonder why my eyes are dry
Like the rivers of today
Suffering from rainless seasons.
The grains of my thoughts
Grind against each other
Angry like the hot burning river sand.
I shall remember you
But who will I remember with
My dear, grief feels like fear.
Where was the water
Of bountiful love between us
That flowed right here.
This river froze, my dear
Blocking the loneliness
Like a layer of Arctic ice.
The first winter without you
The empty sofa near the hearth
The silence filled the crackling embers
The vast vacant space now
Covered by sheets over our bed
Still retaining the scent of our love
We both still smile, my dear
Today, I stare at the pictures
on the nightstand and the fridge
Our carriage of love
Now still and silent
Parked in our garage.
The sordid winter left
And the chirpy spring came
After that…the summer indeed.
I barely noticed that
The leaves turn golden
On the trees and the meadows.
Living in our past together
The memories hold me firm
Perhaps, a life forever.
Till…it was washed away
By the autumn rain
Flowing through my eyes
The memories are still alive
I let go, dear, my grief
Your memories are my relief.
( Ashok, 2023)
Here is a quote that summarizes this:
“So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.”
―?E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly
~Ashok Subramanian
Hospitality Manager, Writer, Author, Poet
1 年The three together are so beautiful, a blend of three different portrayals of grief. Ashok Subramanian what can I say, yours was so so good. You know I relate well with grief and melancholy. But it just felt so real. Well done. Sarah Polyakov, I didn't think I could write one after yours, it's was so poignant. Thank you for inviting me to add on!