Sunday, December 01, 2024

a kind (of) bereavement

            our old house has new folks 
                       and so... now we are ghosts
              no one sees although we lived
                    here barely 12  years ago 
         morning  mists cling  to  us 
                        ghostly as nights of regret 
             our older selves are yet silent, 
                      uncertain, unknown outside
            we find we forget to exhale
                         are reminded there are no 
             songs in sighs and although
                          not quite death, cold-ness 
                 takes away our breath, leaves 
                          us to mourn a different lack 
                 of warmth despite being back
__________
Note: I felt a bit strange walking on our old street in Yellow Springs early in the day. I think I imagined that a neighbor or two would be out and that we'd have a warm impromptu reunion. I had plans with friends later in the day, but wanted the chance encounter too! Speaking of friends, I'm ordering a few copies of Rebecca Kuder's Dear Inner Critic Workbook to give as Christmas presents. 
____________
Pic: Our descent into Glen Helen for a long hike yesterday. Back in the day, when we lived across from the Glen, I feel we solved many of our parenting dilemmas and disagreements over a walk through these woods.

10 comments:

Nicole said...

Rob and I drove through our old neighbourhood last time we were in Calgary and it was strange. I expected to see someone I knew standing out in their yard, but didn't. I also expected to be very emotional and I wasn't at all, which was VERY strange.

Gillian said...

Take care

Nance said...

It's odd, isn't it? You feel a sense of belonging, yet there's nothing there to belong to anymore. It's hard to accept that you're Past and it's Present. All the life moved with you.

The poem is good at capturing the ghostly feeling--the sense of walking in the mist/midst of memory, there but not quite.

StephLove said...

I find it even more emotional than I thought it would be to be in North's housing co-op, as we were when we dropped them off on Sunday. I lived there for a year and a half and the place is seeped in memories.

maya said...

That's surprising for sure, Nicole... Moving was so hard on you...

maya said...

Thank you

maya said...

I like "mist/midst"!
I'm having a tough time writing, Nance...

maya said...

I can imagine how fraught it must be, Steph... Does it fluctuate with how you're feeling about the drop off itself? <3

Immaculate Home Chem-Dry of the South Bay said...

Moving away is so hard. As a carpet cleaner in the South Bay, I have witnessed several peope preparing to move away. The families do often seem more somber than most clients.

Jenny said...

Beautiful photo and beautiful poem!

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