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Next Bed Over

someone died again 

next bed over

light spilling across the sill

and spread 

voices in the hall 

softer than the TV blaring 

across the breezeway 

 

no flowers in the vase 

on the cheap dresser 

someone long ago painted 

green vines and red berries 

no picture frames of smiling children 

now gray who recently visited 

again introducing themselves 

again being careful 

to not use the word “remember” 

 

dry lips were not covered by a mask 

but wet only by raspy breath 

heard between quiet moans 

like a dreaming child's when lost 

in a crowd of unfamiliar faces 

and strange geometries of light 

 

earlier they were comforted 

by song and story 

faith and myth 

a warm hand 

by an early evening bird-song 

or even just 

rain on the roof 

 

now it was quiet... 

listen passed sound 

listen hard into the silence 

a soft rustle of a silk sundress 

the scratch of a pen on paper 

light brush of fingertips through long hair 

listen to all the sounds 

memory makes 

when leaving 

◄ Before You Came Back

Crawl of the Caterpillar ►

Comments

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Lisa C Bassignani

Fri 26th Jul 2019 21:11

Adam, I think both. The specifics of some memories will in time "whisper away" but THE memory will forever stay.

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Mae Foreman

Fri 26th Jul 2019 13:53

Great poem Adam! On the question you asked I feel the memory lingering like a spectrum type impression while the person is slowly slipping away! Sweetly so! Loved it!
Thank you?
Mae

elPintor

Fri 26th Jul 2019 10:44

..reminds me of a scene, listening to a mother explain why she had purged some of her deceased son's belongings from her home, saying that she couldn't bear the way objects lose his scent...

Quite poignant and so is the writing.

Rachel

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Adam Rabinowitz

Fri 26th Jul 2019 07:37

Thanks for reading.

Is the end hopeful to you? Does it seem as though the light of the person, their memory stays intact but fluid as it whispers away? Or does it seem final and sad? Or both?

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