the shape
of my sadness
like a cloud drifting
fraying, taking form again
oh, but I love this life

 

 

(red lights Vol. 9, No. 2)

Published by

Marilyn Shoemaker Hazelton

Marilyn Hazelton is editor of red lights, an international tanka journal, where tradition and innovation meet. Rostered as a teaching poet with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, her work includes residencies in France, Japan and Morocco.

6 thoughts on “”

  2. The poem, as I experienced it, is about life within this life. The first four lines are about the grief I feel still 12 years later for the loss of my son, Matt, and others in my family. The last line was a weak attempt at resolving the grief for that moment. I picked up a candle that my youngest son, Patrick, and his now husband, gave my husband and I for Christmas last year. And the last line here jolted its way into my heart. I am honored to have this poem appear on tinywords.

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  3. I really like how you created the story. A poet really need more than emotion. If you look really, any deposition sentences are becoming very real. I really like you!

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  4. Thank you Marilyn – you offer an image that speaks to my grief still raw from my wife's death. And I find your last line strong, not weak, as indeed we reach into life for that which we need to carry us on. Oh, indeed I love this life!

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  6. the shape
    of my sadness
    like a cloud drifting
    fraying, taking form again
    oh, but I love this life

    Beautiful turn around in the last line. Wonderful tanka.

    warm regards,

    Alan

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