On Day 21 of Laura Shovan's February Poetry Project, Marilyn R. Garcia invited writers to explore the mystery between sadness and joy in their lives or the world around them. She challenged writers to write a poem about a time or period of life where the coexistence of sadness and joy was strong for you.
It is difficult to believe that it has been 10 months since my husband passed away suddenly. I found the above digital artwork that I created years ago. My journey since then has been one of unbelief, to anxiety, to grief. But it has also been a time of discovery. I tackle questions, such as who am I and where am I going.
My goal is to restore my soul, mind, and body. Plus, I realize that it takes many miles of walking on my spiritual journey to find peace. With sunlight not making regular trips this winter, grey clouds seem to agitate my mind. Recently, I wrote a blog post about holding the sun close to my heart. As the song, Restore My Soul, states, "revive my heart" is what I need.
I started this blog post with a proposed prompt to write a poem about a time or period of life where the coexistence of sadness and joy was strong for me. During the winter season, I have felt the sadness of loss and grey skies along with the joy of being with family, especially my three little grandgirls. The prompt by Marilyn R. Garcia asks us to take the lyrics from one of the Beatles' mysterious songs and make them make sense.
Keeping in line with the sorrow and joy of winter without continual sun is a mystery to me. Winter doldrums have brought unrest. The ending line of my blackout poem is what I would like to bring an optimistic point of view during this bereavement time.
Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles
Here comes the sun , doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun
And I I say, "It's all right"
Little darlin'
It's been a long, cold onely , l winter
Little darlin'
It feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun , doo-doo-do
Here comes the sun
And I say, "It's all right"
Little darlin'
The smiles return ng to the faces
CVarsalona, 2026
A simple prompt helped me realize that sorrow and joy can coexist. If I hold on to hope and faith, my journey may not be as bumpy as it has been. I look forward to a smile opening each day.
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I thank Irene Latham for her recent blog post with an inspiring ending line to her poem "Watermelon, you"-:"Teach me how to hold the sun when the day is anything buy joyful".
winter's sun offers
both darkness and light with love
mystery of weather
CVarsalona, 2026✎
In addition, I am adding my draft poem for today's Poetry Sisters' February Challenge with Sara, Tanita, Tricia, Mary Lee, and Laura. I choose to use the 25th Poet Laureate of the USA, Aurthur Sze's First Snow poem as my mentor text. I offer a Golden Shovel draft poem with the strike line: the world of being is like this gravel.
dreams melt like the
falling snow in our swishing world
that holds the challenges of
of my swirling life - being
part of continual uncertainty is
unmeasurably worrisome - like
rabbits jumping from here to there this
journey reminds me of winter's icy gravel
(trying to melt what is in my way)
draft-CVarsalona, 2026
The companion photo will be created at a later time.
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I join the Poetry Friday Roundup with our host, Margaret Simon, educator, author, poet, and friend. Margaret is offering us three lovely poems she penned for the Ethical ELA Open Write.
Very nice post, Carol. Marilyn Garcia's prompt feels very wise-- thinking about the co-existence of sadness and joy seems like a good need to honor. Irene's quote is a keeper. I like what you did with it. xo
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tabatha, for joining me her and providing a lovely comment. After you stopped by I worked on my poem from the Poetry Sisters and placed it at the bottom of this post. I read several poems by Arthur Sze who I did not know was the 25th Poet Laureate of the USA. Have a wonderful week.
DeleteThanks for sharing your journey with us, Carol. What a gift poetry is to us humans...
ReplyDeleteLiz, it is always a pleasure to be amongst Poetry Friday's stellar poets who offer their gifts. After you joined me this morning, I added my draft poem for the Poetry Sisters' February Challenge. I am honored to be one of the #PoetryPals.
DeleteSo much wisdom and your poems hold such love and beauty. Your blackout poem, especially that "smiles return" peeking out and especially your "mystery of weather" resonate. Thank you, Carol, for warming up this cold day with your words!
ReplyDeleteWhat an intriguing prompt! Carol, you've walked your journey of grief so openly. I'm glad you see smiles coming, even though I know you won't be done grieving. Thank goodness for the people and places who bring those smiles out. xo
ReplyDeleteLaura, as my bereavement counselor says, grief does not stop. But it is not pounding at my heart like the ocean roaring toward the shore. Your comments and poem mellowed my emotions tonight.
DeleteBoth darkness and light, impartial offerings from winter light. Love that. Thanks for sharing where your poetry takes you this month. -tanita⛅
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your journey with us through your writing. I hope our comments bring some comfort. I wear a pendant that signifies joy and sorrow side by side. Carrying the two is a healthy sign.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I find that writing about my journey has helped me walk my walk through grief. Each one of the comments tonight have soothed my soul and revived my heart. Your pendant held next to your body provides a cohesive joining of sorrow and joy. I often wear the jewelry Richard bought for me and shall remember your thoughts. Thank you for hosting and supporting me, my friend.
DeleteTender, heartfelt response to an interesting prompt. Sorrow and joy coexisting is the human condition and poetry is one of the best ways to explore it.
ReplyDeleteBeing human is so complicated. We can hold both joy and grief at the same time. Sometimes one is stronger, sometimes the other, but they are both always there.
ReplyDeleteCarol, this very day, I read about a man who like you, has experienced the sudden loss of a much loved parnter. He has written a memoir in which he mentions that in dealing with his grief he has done such a lot of walking in order to divest himself of its weight. It seems you are on a similar journey. Love the use your black out poem makes of the Beatles classic. As Jama, notes sorrow and joy can co exist within us. Poetry is a balm.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading a book that highlighted Tennyson's line about it being better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all. I've never been a Tennyson fan. But, I appreciated how the book was partly about grief and how it took Tennyson seventeen years to write his most famous work that was really bits and pieces of his writing his grief ...and that it got compiled into one work later. There's so much to learn as we endure and continue to live in loss. I'm grateful that you've turned toward writing as a way of living. You've done such a beautiful job of it and I know you will continue to.
ReplyDeleteThis post is full of inspiration, courage, and heart. Thank you for sharing your journey through grief is such a special way. "Here Comes the Sun" is a favorite of mine, so I enjoyed what you found in it.
ReplyDeleteSo poignant, Carol. "Here Comes the Sun" once became a bit of an anthem for me at a particular point in my spiritual journey, so I have such an attachment to that song. I love the way you used it here and the way you are striving to find who you are and where you're going at this point in your life.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if what makes us human is our ability to hold two things simultaneously... that we can be both joyful and sad -- and pray for sun. You have that joy in your family, in your grandgirls, and the sad in your heart. Your heart is big enough for all of them -- including the sun. xoxo
ReplyDeleteCarol, I thought I'd left a comment, but maybe I didn't. Senior moment, perhaps? :) I really like what you did with the Arthur Sze challenge. "Swishing world" mirrors "swirling life" and the off-kilter feel of "continual uncertainty." Oh, our world of joy and sorrow.
ReplyDeleteCarol, what a rich post. So much goodness. I love the haiku truth of "winter's sun offers / both darkness and light with love" Wow. You have captured the joy and sadness coexisting in metaphor and in your own story. So glad you have family close by. Your Sze poem is thought-provoking too. Beautiful post today.
ReplyDeleteCarol, I am so moved by your post. Irene's quote choked me up. Your prompt reminded me of my wedding day 45 years ago, when my new father-in-law passed away suddenly that night. It was a day of contradictions. Joy and sorrow. Thank you for sharing your journey. My husband is dealing with cancer and your courage inspires me :) Yes to these lines:
ReplyDeletebeing
part of continual uncertainty is
unmeasurably worrisome - like
rabbits jumping from here to there