My eyes land on the photo: the two of us at Nantucket harbor, the sunset glowing behind us, a gaudy Mai Tai, while I stare into the camera, serious as the wind whips my hair, but he looks at me, eyes soft, mouth curved in a small smile. I pull the picture from its Lucite frame, gaze at it nestled in my opened hands, and tear it; the rip cleaves his face in two, a jag of white interrupts his smiling mouth, but then I shred the pieces in half again, and again, until my hand fills with ragged-edged papers. For a reason unfathomable to me, I blow; the soft shards float in the air like dandelion seeds parachuting on a gentle spring breeze, scattering and drifting downward, covering the bed, my slippers, the cracks between floor boards, scores of pieces reflecting his hair and mouth and shirt and hands and eyes. I fall on my knees, scramble to pick them up, but the small bits hover in the invisible drafts created by my outstretched hands, eluding me. God, he’ll always be with me.
I sob again.
Excerpted from BRIGHTER THAN BRIGHT. A similar version appeared in Six Sentences, Volume I, 2008.
Peace, Linda
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Posts
Wow, very poignant, Linda. A lot of pain and sorry expressed here in so few words. An excellent, excellent piece.
ReplyDelete~jon
Sorrow. Sorrow, not sorry! Jeeze.
ReplyDelete~jon
The image of dandelions seeds and picture pieces blowing in the wind, gives a feeling of release and as Jon said sorrow. Very sad and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSad, beautiful words.
ReplyDeleteDescribing the shards of paper blowing like dandelion seeds was so lovely.
Great piece!
Painful, beautiful immediacy. And lovely, too. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe pain there - and the dandelion seeds - all exquisite imagery which you do so well, Linda!
ReplyDeleteWhat a tender, painful image. I could almost feel her sorrow at the thought of him lingering beyond her ability to pick up the pieces and throw them out.
ReplyDeleteI loved the very apt dandelion metaphor too.
Nice piece.
Grief nicely conveyed in a few words. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI never even thought to describe ripping a photograph. What beautiful and horrible words you used.
ReplyDeleteLove the dandelions
ReplyDeleteI'm reading this as grief from bereavement rather than abreak-up, even though it's not specified. It's *that* kind of grief
There are a lot of great moments in BTB, this being one of the gems. Thanks for posting. Hope you're doing well.
ReplyDelete--John
Thank you all for reading. I think losing someone you love, no matter under which circumstances, is grief.
ReplyDeleteCatching up on ff reading myself. Peace, Linda
Losing someone you love is never ever easy even if it isn't a blood relative.
ReplyDeleteYou've captured this so beautifully!
Very smooth, flowed so nicely. I really enjoyed reading.
ReplyDelete