Before the Formal Feeling
When there’s pain,
Everything enwrapped that might be good
‘Til sight is pushed down toward the ground
And placing arms around
Takes nothing but
Dust and air
And ashes that rise to sting the face
And render bitter tasting in the mouth
What then is left
That’s hale or promising
The hope of life for
Tomorrow or even in time that remains today
I think I’ll have the drink that bites
And chew on some bread that’s burnt:
Salt and ashes
Herbs that sting,
Spells of ordinary stuff
Quotidian magic
The miracle in the day might be a breeze;
Some of the dust of flesh
Cobwebs
Might rise off the nightmare,
Lets gazing up to see some yellow light
Falling on new leaves
Caught in early spring
First breaths upon the earth
C L Couch
clcouch123 
May 21, 2017 at 4:08 am
Christopher this poem, so sad. The speaker sounds like he is suffering a lot. I hope that the speaker is not you and that you are not in such grave pain, with such thoughts of ashes. I wish I’d read this sooner. I’m praying for your health and happiness my friend 🙏🏻
May 21, 2017 at 11:17 pm
Amanda, thank you for your thoughtfulness and for your prayers. I guess in the writing this is about me, and whoever relates to it later will have it for her or him. It continues to be a hard time with pain and direction-seeking and all. At the moment, I’m taking care of my sister’s dogs, which is something I can handle okay. I hope your life is going really well these days. Again, thank you, my good friend.
May 22, 2017 at 12:00 am
You are so welcome. I’m glad you have the dogs and I’m managing pretty good. Doing a bit of freelancing so that’s been nice. I think dogs are good companions that make sickness not so bad cause they want all your attention lol. As always I’m praying for you 🙏