Winter of Our Discontent

...of love lost

Winter of our Discontent

 

 

 Winter just wasn’t our season.

After sorting through a mass collection

of Zeppelin albums

and a flash drive of wedded bliss,

we said goodbye.

 

Goodbye

to twenty plus years

of family reunions and Christmas traditions,

to crisp November mornings

of breakfast in bed

with three cats at our feet

and a house with no mortgage.

 

What’s yours what’s mine­­­­

now lies dissected

in a dichotomy of cardboard boxes,

 

categorically defined

like the high thread count of sheets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

The closing line about the high thread count of sheets, I have used before...but I think it bears repeating here.

Reviews

[MCS]

bittersweet, i can so relate, well done my poet friend

[Kelly Scheppers]

You are ever so kind, Mary. Thank you!

[MCS]

Most welcome, its always a delight to read your work.

[barleygirl]

I have commented on your high-thread-count sheets in another poem, when I felt it didn't jive with the organic feel of that other poem. But in this poem, this detail feels perfect for the way these lives are profiled here. This is a strong example of show instead of tell -- the first rule of good writing. Your well-chosen details show us the kind of life they shared (in a "shorthand" way) as well as describing the current demise. Very vivid depiction (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Kelly Scheppers]

Thank you, Margie. Hope you're staying warm with our temps at night taking a nose dive since Christmas!

[m3lody mae]

I smiled when I read this, it holds a warmth to it. So very nicely written

[Kelly Scheppers]

Much appreciate the review. Thank you, Dalton!

[DIVYA]

The material remains when we look at them seem so paltry compared with the significance they held, the joy they brought when the relationship was alive. This is a heartbreakingly sad reality. Very beautifully portrayed Kelly 💕

[Kelly Scheppers]

You are ever so kind, Divya. Thank you!

[DIVYA]

It’s a pleasure Kelly!

[C. M. Miller]

lifeandloveislikethethreadcountofsheetsthatbringstwopeopletogethersotightandsmoothliketwoheartsknittedasonebutithappensthat a min or r i p oc currs a n d th ere i s no kn i tt in g of a b ro ken
H E A R T. What is left is the spaces between that one must navigate, like a maze. There will be wrong turns for a certainty. But the torn heart will prevail, and the knitting stars anew.

[Kelly Scheppers]

...the text was intentional, right? Nice effect! Hey, Happy New Year! Did you see the CHARGER game against the PATS? ; (

[C. M. Miller]

Yes, yes it was intentional. Re the Chargers . . . . sadness abounds, but now I just want the Pats to lose in the Super Bowl!

[Kelly Scheppers]

I read on line that the ticket prices for the Superbowl have fallen. It seems all Pats fans have "been there and done that". I still think the Saints were robbed!

[andrew mitchell]

sad , bitter sweet, its hard to believe 20 years have passed which can only leave one melancholic even though the memories are fond ones.

[Kelly Scheppers]

...thank you, Andrew! Sorry I'm so late in thanking you. I think my mail is coming in by carrier pigeon these days.

[andrew mitchell]

lol no probs.

[Lydia Shutter]

So often this is what a marriage is reduced to when divorce intercedes. I hope this is not a true tale for you, my friend. I doubt that it is. Love the reference to Zepplin. When a marriage breaks up, traditions are shattered and life is never the same. Your words are powerful in this one, Kelly. Hey, if you wrote the line to begin with, you are allowed to re-use it....I say so! :) Lydi**

[Kelly Scheppers]

Please forgive the lateness of this. I believe my mail is being snail delivered these days! Lol, I knew you would be the one to appreciate reusing a line. Thanks, Lydi!

[Perdition]

I truly cannot tell if you went hard or soft on this...I know it leans toward soft but the undertow within it is a live animal and that screams of a sort of harsh realization...Zeppelin albums? Well that alone is a jab to the gut but I must congratulate you on this...you've taken me into an emotion and I hear your discontent. The last two lines, and I did read your comment on that, is yours and obviously you may do what you wish but you have an opportunity here and i would suggest you reach deeply into something new as it reads a bit generic and leans toward a colder side...a distance so to speak...but I love this anyway and you made me feel so wonderfully done!

[Kelly Scheppers]

I know I could have added more to this, or perhaps ended it differently, but I was quite satisfied with how it sounded when I read it aloud to myself. I'm quite puzzled though, knowing you felt it read a bit generic at the end. I'll chew on that one for a while. I appreciate your perspective though, Joseph. Thank you!

[Perdition]

My pleasure and thanks for the wonderful shift in my mood after reading..wow..Incredible!

[Perdition]

Needed to come back to let you know that perhaps "generic" was not the proper tern here but rather I probably should have used "familiar" in that sense that you felt you would use a closing that you have used before. I always say "if it fits use it" but first and most importantly try and exhaust all other means..you have that talent for it. In this poem you catch the spirt of the loss so smiles and again..just a wonderful write.

[Lorry]

Cardboard boxes flashbacks, to half a video collection, half an album collection, and half a memory that refuses to be extinguished, that wonders what it was all about in the first place. They do say we live and learn, but we rarely do, do we?
Beautifully written with the ache of soft regrets and a perfect title.

[Kelly Scheppers]

The title actually comes from the first two lines of Shakespeare's Richard III. I thought it made for the perfect title. Thanks, Lorry!

[Lorry]

If you want a good laugh, see if youcan find a movie/documentary called looking for Richard. Al Pacino decided he wanted to put on Richard the third in a theatre, with everyone involved new to shakespeare and theatre. Winona Ryder is the only one I remember, but it is like two hours of watching rabbits in headlights, as they all freak out and realise they are out of their depth.
Its meant to be serious, but I laughed my head off :)

[A hare off]

Quite sad but so well written as if peering through an old photo album, bittersweet and nostalgic in a faded way. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

[Kelly Scheppers]

How wonderful to meet someone new. Thank you!