Saturday 2 June 2018

Signatures



All I do is long for you.

Candle flickers,
gramophone spins old 45,

see you dancing in the shadows…

old sweater hugged
smells of you,
fills me up…

tobacco-kissed DNA,
remains of you among the ashes. 
I see you 
on the lips of long-emptied glasses,
whisky-scented,
cold breath whispering 
I was here.

Anna :o]

An oldie reworked and abridged for Hedge's 55.

Also shared with the good folk at Poets United - cheers for hosting Mary.

Image:  Courtesy of Pexels

17 comments:

kaykuala said...

on the lips of long-emptied glasses,
whisky-scented,
cold breath whispering
I was here

Friends and acquaintances come to mind if one once shared moments at the pub!

Hank

hedgewitch said...

This has such a quiet pain to it; nothing is more evocative than those sensual reminders of the past, smell, music, a fugitive memory among the ashes that some glimpse of something shared suddenly causes to pop up...I like your use of the word 'gramophone' also--it has exactly the right feel of times past that the speaker is submerged in. Thank you so much for adding this one to the 55, Anna--and for your kind words and thoughts on my own.

ZQ said...

Great images in this piece... Bravo!
ZQ

Mary said...

So many memories & so well presented. I can feel the yearning for what once was!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I can fel the longing for the person and those long-gone days.....still alive in memory. Sigh. Love the 45's!

Wendy Bourke said...

I loved everything about this utterly awesome piece - as it cascades from its inspired title. Wonderful words, mesmerizing cadence, and the signature ... so tenderly drawn. THIS is poetry!

Gillena Cox said...

Nice

Much♥️love

Anonymous said...

very evocative and a softness in the longing, like snuggling into that sweater, to find and smells, even for the painful reminders of loss -
this is a very intimate, tender piece, speaks of vulnerability and tenderness, with great affections

Kim M. Russell said...

I agree about the quiet pain of this poem, Anna. Scents and music are so evocative of feelings. I love the lines:
'old sweater hugged
smells of you,
fills me up'
and
'I see you
on the lips of long-emptied glasses'.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Beautifully evocative! Especially love; "I see you on the lips of long-emptied glasses."đź’–

annell4 said...

Yes, memories are like waves, just when you think one has passed, here comes another...or when least when least expected, reminders appear, and we can be knocked off our feet. Perhaps for a moment we forget and there it is again. And maybe each time, a different response? We see it all, from a different point of view, another angle. A wonderfully written piece!!

Jenny Woolf said...

Oh, my that exactly sums up the feeling of longing for someone long gone.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

Your poem takes me right back to my younger days. Love the imagery!

dsnake1 said...

one can feel the longing and the pain.
this is such a vivid poem.

Magaly Guerrero said...

The last line is bittersweet and lovely, I can hear the whisper...

Marja said...

"on the lips of long-emptied glasses,
whisky-scented,
cold breath whispering
I was here"
Amazing lines I feel I was there too
Every line is so alive and visible
Great poem Anna

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

An oldie but a goodie!