Left Behind

Waiting Gifts

~Left Behind~

I’d  hoped not to be the partner left behind

left without you, without the me I knew

left alone to start anew or die within

I did not know that grief could hit

rock bottom then rise again to

surface in a present rich with

deeper understanding, new 

eyes, fresh beginnings

New Life - New Me

Dear Heart - I wonder, had I died first and 

you’d been left behind to find the gift of

new beginnings, what would you have

wrought with it? The very thought a

challenge to do my utmost with

this gift I have been handed

this rich new opportunity

to think, discover and

To Live

JoMae

1/26/19

Year three, and I am learning to see this new phase of my life, this new chapter, as a gift, an opportunity I’d never have known had I died first.  A present to carefully open and enter with quiet anticipation. A faint echo of the day when death takes me home to the new life joyfully awaiting there.

To Bloom Again

~ You Can Bloom Again ~

I’m surprised to hear myself say this

but while I did not choose it, I’ve

learned to love this solitary life

become accustomed to its

smile, its patience with

my ways, its song, its 

silence and its

listening ear

I love the contemplative hours

in which to ponder all the

questions of my days

the gains the loss

the meaning

of it all

The precipice, the void, the fear

the Grace to face life head on

dive down deep  yet surface

fully alive, breathing in this

strange foreign widow land

where  silent  intimidating

emptiness can transform

as blessed serenity able

to nourish one's soul

feed your spirit and

cultivate your soil

so that you can

Bloom Again 

JoMae

1/18/19

A word for widowed friends today. With thanks to those of you who’ve taught and modeled much for me - and hope for those of us still learning the language and customs of this foreign world called Widow Land.  

Just as we cannot look into the mystery surrounding our loved ones who have died, we cannot know ahead of our arrival, the mystery and puzzling culture awaiting our new life after being widowed.

Ravaged Linden Tree

Photo by Judy Spoelhof

Ravaged Linden Tree

Barren limbs angled sharply like many broken arms

askew and dangling against a sombre sky with  

just a few large leaves still hanging on. A

lightening silhouette of who you were

yet softened by the echo of a

Rainbow

Faint rainbow of the Linden Tree

ravaged by the storm, left

bowed and broken

raw limbs awry

May we learn to see your promise

begin to understand its hope

know to bud anew and be

Reborn

JoMae

10/22/18

An effort to capture a photo verbally
- inspired while reading

Tell it Slant by Brenda Miller

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3/27/19
First Leaf on the Linden Tree

Photo by Judy Spoelhof