Weather the Wither or wither in the Winter

A reflection on aging

Robert · Weather The Wither

Please don’t let the spaces

Where my heart knew joy

To be but aching traces

in a perpetual ploy

 

Please let me hold the graces

through the loss with poise

to fill the empty places

that my heart employed

 

I do not wish my final paces

To languish in the voids

Longing for the faces

My steps or time destroyed

 

Like a hollow occupation

Seeking impossible employ

As a host of aberration

Of a heart and soul disjoined

 

Let me always find embraces

in the elegant anoint

of the beauty that displaces

the pain of hopes devoid

 

we all must wither

some will weather

their final winter

in the grace of treasures

and some will shiver

wrapped in cold displeasure

in the bitterness quiver

in their sorrows tether

Author's Note

Reviews

[emmajoy]

'Let me always find embraces - in the elegant anoint - of the beauty that displaces - the pain of hopes devoid Sir, you always will. And there you have it, Bunny has spoken and.. of course, superbly. How young or old do you have to be to appreciate all this sad business? Thought we were supposed to slip into the day by 'buddy' day awareness by remembering that what rattles and rolls is only the occasional loose marble! Some way back philosopher said that we age as we live.. so - guess what!! You sir will always have a way of looking on life as another shared poems and a chair to draw up to table! Great writing, great metre, great everything.. so there!

[Robert Trakofler]

thank you Emmy I have been thinking a lot about this lately as that lady I told you about before has been suffering so much and I feel helpless to stop it but inside of this experience is the message that I won't allow myself to end this way full of regret and bitterness

[emmajoy]

Bunny, dear friend, you have the wisdom of someone who knows more than the average bear about life and what it does to the body and spirit. Empathy is part of your DNA.. everyone who knows you, is well aware of that. Nothing will ever stunt that need to care, to empathise but.. miracles aren't always possible. Pf course forge on best you can - nothing will stop you anyway, will it! Nothing will ever make you a bitter or mean human being. Honest!!! :)

[Patricia Wedel]

I plan to weather my final Winter(s)
In the Grace of Treasures…. dearest Robert.
Your poetry has given me a new birth.
May your days be blessed. tenderly, Pat

[Robert Trakofler]

Thanks I knew that you would:) I have been taking care of an old friend for many years and now she is declining fast I had to place her in a nursing home and these thoughts have been paramount in my mind lately

[andrew mitchell]

Great writing Robert. Your signature style is uniquely yours in all its splendour.

[Robert Trakofler]

Hi Andrew:) thank you, good sir, every once in a while I scribble something of note LOL

[Dave Brown]

Good play on words with a serious bit of reality
Whether the one or the other as we hope to hold things together

[Robert Trakofler]

you put so much humor into your writes I seriously doubt that you will ever allow yourself to suffer in this way Mr. Dave:)

[Cherrie Palmer]

You have gone a little deeper with this one, broke new ground, and it's wonderful.

[Robert Trakofler]

thank you, Cherrie:) I know of one poetess that will never fall into those traps of disdain

[Ted Kniffen]

Hey Rob, this comes across as a prayer ... one that resonates with those of us approaching our senior years ... as well as those (like me) well into the age of seniority.
We could look back with regret at those things we did and mourn or we can accept our own shortcomings and work at being better people.

A good write my friend ... rhyming and timing impeccable.

[Robert Trakofler]

Ted, You're right, it is very prayer like I know I'm kind of young to be thinking along these lines at 52 but after having been working with some senior folks over the years I realize now how easy it is to get caught in the clutches of anguish and regret especially if you don't replace some of those losses with something else. so it is a prayer, to me, to remember:)

[Ken Simm.]

There is the beat again. The drummer speaks and his beats hit the readers marrow. This resonates Robert. Really hits me to the core.

[Robert Trakofler]

thanks, Ken:) I have to admit that this one took me a while to finish it seems the closer to one's heart the harder it is to find the lines

[John the Baptist]

Who knows how the end will be for any of us? The poem seems a meditation on mortality and its apparent losses, plus some regrets on what might have been but was not. As the last stanza notes, we all must wither. Better it is to focus on the day and be grateful for what is now. Don't waste the time that remains with speculations and regrets.

[Robert Trakofler]

I will sincerely try to weather the wither with as much grace as I can muster my friend

[jacob erin-cilberto]

something like what the chorus said in Oedipus....the idea of a man being able to die with no regrets...
if we can even the ledger....it's a victory.
j.

[Robert Trakofler]

I have a lady that I have been an advocate for, for many years she is losing her memory now and has a very hard time walking I am very concerned for her but in the pandemic sequesters and restriction I am having a very hard time helping her. She has never been a very happy person is constantly angry about her losses and never attempts to fill those voids with something new she thrives on her angst and regret watching this over time has taught me exactly how not to be as I am getting older now:/

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and considering how she is acting, I really admire you even more for being such a gracious soul and still helping her as much as you can.

[Robert Trakofler]

she has no family

[barleygirl]

Your title is so stunning, meaningful & crafty, you could get away with posting that one line & little else. The creativity of your title sentiment says SO MUCH, it's almost haiku. Five more syllables . . . (excuse me, I can't resist):
. . . . weather the wither
. . . . or wither in the winter
. . . . whether whip or wilt

Okay now about your message. What are you, about a dozen years younger than me? At that stage, life feels as if it's taking away more than it's giving, regarding one's fading faculties. But after you wrangle with the pissy inequities that come with aging, after you master this s**t for a decade or more, suddenly what's been taken away becomes what has given the most, and of the most value. I hate being in a fucked up body, but I wouldn't trade it if I lost what I've learned in the last ten years of torturous pain. As always, your sentiments are word-crafty & thought-provoking (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Robert Trakofler]

miss you here:( so i guess i have to bug you the old fashioned way and sent you an email:)