October 12, and so forth and so back

October 12, and so forth and so back

mummified roses

gasp last breaths

a thornful summer ends reluctantly

sadness escapes from winds

that pester past tears

the fall of us

was many moons ago

but part of that orb still glows

and stabs like cactus fingers

protruding through a desert story

i love flowers

i used to love fall

but the turning leaves turn away from me now

they know i am embarrassed by those tears

and am a ruptured leaf

clinging valiantly

to the belief

in something of meaningful color.

erin-cilberto

10/12/19

Reviews

[Lorry]

Having a specific thing or place in common to remind us that the ache is alive and well is bad enough, but when it lasts for a quarter of the year, you have to wonder why we don't just hibernate our way through it, instead of feeling every twist of the knife our memories can through at us.
I'm still amazed this whole love thing took off in such a big way. If anything else caused us this much hurt, we would drop it like it was on fire. But we endure the battle nonetheless.
A very relateable piece Jacob, that we have all felt in some way at some time, unfortunately.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Lorry....and I agree with what you said...although wasn't it Hamlet who said,
it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all--?
thank you for your words,
j.

[Lorry]

Yeah, but he went about talking to skulls. 😀

[jacob erin-cilberto]

so would that be digging skulls...or skullduggery....:)))

[Lorry]

And he had a skull etc hairstyle. Mullet on back, bald on top. Not to be trusted 😀

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio, mullet and all"

[Chris Shaw]

A meaningful anniversary. The ghost of what was returns to haunt us. Love does that. You can't erase what has been. Many years pass by and yet on certain dates they are brought back in full technicolour. They return with their sadness but why let the ghosts of the past take with them all the joy of the season. Nature is a healer. However sad I have been I have always found some healing in nature's ways. Why be embarrassed by tears? They too are a healer. This is a most beautiful poem which makes me reflect on my life and some of its heartache. Lovely work.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind words, Chris,
j.

[Eilis]

I love the title, Jacob. The significance of the date alongside the vagueness of the so forth and so back. It’s like the speaker is stuck in a time warp and reliving an experience over and over.

And the experience is like pain tinged with nostalgia. The memory of a love that remade the world and then left emotional havoc in its wake upon departure. Love is such a powerful force. It can reach through time and space and bring us right back to a spot we aren’t quite able to let go. And though the moment was some twenty years past its sting can feel as fresh as the first day.

I love the image of cactus fingers, and how we fade out with the coming season. The joy of something once treasured drained of its pleasure. Powerful heartache poetry here.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind and insightful review, Eilis...
j.

[emmajoy]

' am a ruptured leaf - clinging valiantly - to the belief - in something of meaningful color.'

Your words are so very beautiful but so sad because I feel you mean every word. Your words suggest a fallen time, one without power, without dignity.. a sad time.. one without hope, perhaps. May i blather here, j. please.

For me Autumn is the most glorious of seasons. How could anything so colourful and musical be anything than a reminder that, like human beings have their seasonal needs, it needs let go then rest. Needs time to absorb the all around, to give Spring its rightful re-birth. Autumn is Mother.. the nurturer, .. drops its leaves to do their most vital work, nourish the earth, feed the future.

You inevitably make this reader think and think even more. Forgive me for going on when i should thank you for yet another contemplative piece of writing.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i so enjoy your "going on"--thank you for sharing your thoughts...yes, i love autumn as well...and feel that Autumn is beautiful with its color...just like ones we love seem to have more color in the autumn of their lives.
thank you, em.
j.

[John the Baptist]

The bittersweet nature of autumn comes through clearly in this one. Fall is indeed lovely, but there is ever that reminder that time is passing and some things and people are gone forever. The opening lines of verse 3 may have a double meaning, "the fall of us" referring to the lost years of the individual, or maybe the "fall of man," the mythical source of all our woes. The last verses reinforce the sense of sadness, but stop short of despair, the speaker metaphorically a leaf clinging to the yet unrealized hope for meaning in life. By God, j., I thought I was somber, but sometimes reading you makes me feel like Pollyanna.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, John...and if you met me in person, it would probably surprise you...i am pretty much always in a good mood...the past creates much of my inspiration.
thank you again,
j.

[Dave Brown]

Interesting
I am very inclined to'ard spring after a long dismal winter, but in fall, I thoroughly enjoy the wonderful splash of color from the huge trees
Summer's getting ever warmer is uncomfortable but fall leading into darker. colder days is a bit of a downer

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Dave,
j.

[Tom]

Like the final, desperate death throes of that falling Autumn leaf,it's in denial even though the cold ground awaits, love this time has really wilted and left the tree or the building....

Marvellous imagery and metaphor as always Jacob!! 🍂

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Tom,
j.