When Bright Eyes are Dimmed

A few years ago, when the granddaughter of a co-worker died, I wrote a little free verse poem for the girl's parents.  I would have had no clue what to say to someone going through such grief, but in a poem you can say almost anything.  I wanted to tell them of my assurance that their daughter was not lost to them forever, but without sounding too preachy. Though it's not as good as the Hermit's recent effort, this is what I came up with:


When Bright Eyes Are Dimmed

When bright eyes are dimmed
And closed in death’s embrace,
And the loss is felt more than seen,
The days of grief seem endless.

You mourn out your days
And the intolerable nights
In the fear that you’ll forget
Those eyes, that smile, that touch.

And though in time you sleep again
It’s never quite so peaceful as before,
And still you say goodnight
To the memory of brightness.

Then one day you’ll close your eyes
To the wonder that is the world,
To find waiting a familiar escort,
Whose glory is only matched

By the brightness of eyes.

Leave Off Them Clothes

I feel a little guilty going so quickly from the sacred to the spicy, but hey, a challenge is a challenge and Wes Mathis threw down the gauntlet of a rondeau (see comments to The Stalker's Sonnet for a description). He says it is an old French poetic form. The only thing I recall about French literature from school is that it always seemed to focus either on sex, death or existentialism. So here is my first shot at a rondeau, incorporating a little of all three elements.

Leave Off Them Clothes

Leave off them clothes and come with me

To ride the waves upon the sea

Then scramble ‘cross the burning sand

And tend to Eden. Hand in hand

We’ll rule and set the natives free.

The dream returns emphatically

When pool-blue eyes seem to agree

With nature’s call, nay, its command:

Leave off them clothes.

The dream may fade eventually

As death draws close with its decree
To part two hearts, one left to stand
Bereft in weeds of mourning grand.
So when they come to bury me,
Leave off them clothes.