Graveyard

I won't wake up, not until the knock is on my door.

It’s a gormless graveyard
Old pine trees on its outskirts
An eerie cold place that sends
Shivers down the spine of visitors
Here, I bury broken hearts
Here, I crush half-lived dreams
And here, I pave ways to peace
This is the gate to two diverging roads
One leads to heaven, another to hell
I hear the sobs of the ones left behind
I hear them wailing and bawling
And silently falling apart
But none gets under my skin
Yet I replace the flowers everyday
And read each message carved on marble stones
"Lived a hero, died one"
"Where wisdom lies, light shines"
And many more
But I don't feel at all
No pain, Goosebumps or guilt
They call me stone-hearted
For I hum amidst funerals
Unaffected and untouched
Closer to dead than living
I pass my subtle days.
Then a conspirator wind
Lifted the shroud from a dead body's skin
I saw the face of my mate
Ashen white and as emotionless as mine
A paroxysm clutched my heart
As I stumbled through the thousand days
Of our beatific past
I went to my childhood and
Aged years in the minutes of present
The bond between us,
A force of thunderous magnitude
Brought me down on my knees
This time, I was the one left behind
A member o the living world
The feeling of bereavement flooded
My stone heart and broke it
I sat down on brown leaves of autumn
Surrounded by naked pine trees
I was stripped too
On the debris of my shredded iron skin,
I was as fragile as them
So just like them,
I held the hand of my friend and wept...

Author's Note

This idea was haunting me for days. Hope you like it :)

Reviews

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Lia... I believe “Hell” is here on this Earth.
There are times when there seems to be Heaven also on this Earth. I prefer to write about love and nature. But I do understand why some poets and writers like to write about the darker side... it does exist and we need to be aware of the truth. So much Injustice in the World. I simply want to light a Candle. tenderly, Pat

[Lia Columbus]

You write so tenderly pat.. I feel your urge to spread positivity... I live in darkness and chase light... I will write about warmth too, very soon, after my pursuit is fulfilled. Thank you for your beautiful words.

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Lia... your poetry has a melancholy aura of having known the shadow of death... of course you would “chase the light”. We are facing darker days in our Country, and we are striving to mend the broken fences of what our Country has endeavored to achieve. We realize that Humanity is the Priority and Prayers are needed ti save the World from tyranny. I appreciate the privilege of knowing you and have grown to understand why it is important to write of the darkness in order to see the Light. God bless you and keep you safe and well. gently, Pat

[Lia Columbus]

Your words mirror my emotions beautifully.. I am grateful that I get to interact with a wonderful person like you.
Lia :-)

[Paul Bell]

We're all in the graveyard of life, passing through for a time before the inevitable.
I suppose that's why life and death is so interwoven.
You can live to a hundred, or you can die at birth, the graveyard doesn't discriminate.

[Lia Columbus]

The graveyard dances everyday calling to us.. It synonyms with death so we fight, but sometimes it wins.

[Sami Khalil]

I feel this message is so powerful and effectively emotional. I feel at the end the feelings of resignation to our fates and relenting to feel the compassion. It sure feels like the world now is a big graveyard. Excellent work.

[Lia Columbus]

Thank you Khalil for your appreciation..

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome.

[Anastasia]

I like the idea behind this poetry that we gain sensitivity more after something tragic happens in our ownives. The pain of others is just pain but our own pain is unbearable agony. This is an all too human experience that you candidly shared here. Though I haven't been much to graveyards, you brought it all very alive here and you conveye the intended message very well. Thank you.

[Lia Columbus]

Thank you Sabrina for your kind words... I totally agree with your conclusion.. We don't care until it's our time.
Lia

[Anastasia]

Thats how I felt about it and thank you for sharing this poetry.

[barleygirl]

This poem is deep & powerful. I love it. It seems to go in one direction, insisting on NOT feeling, then it takes a turn into remembering with a TON of feeling, as if to suggest the earlier denial of feeling was on the verge of crumbling. I love your imagery of walking thru a graveyard, described as cold & stark as the narrator purports his/her void feelings to be. But after your poem turns the corner, then the graveyard becomes a haunting almost torturing place that brings up the past vividly (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Lia Columbus]

Thank you Margie for feeling the ambience of my words. Feelings are indeed strange. Aren't they?

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Lia... many funerals of loved ones... remembering only recently that I had spoken with them and they were vibrant with a mind that remembered so much. Now in the end... their Spirit has flown from their Body to whence it cane from... safe in the hereafter. There is more to Heaven and Earth than we could ever Imagine. truly, Pat

[Lorry]

I liked the last line, holding their hand, as the point of your write (in my humble opinion) is that for most of strifes in our life, we can sometimes pay too little heed to others pain and suffering until we are touched by it ourselves.
Since the story of the year, covid put in an appearance, I do think that empathy has risen, especially since lockdown started and we were all feeling a little awkward wearing masks and going near people. I think it brought people together by keeping us apart and gave us more time to see, think and absorb that it was so much worse for others.
Really like this. If there is such a thing as a slow burn suspense poem, then this is most cartainly "it." 😀

[Lia Columbus]

Thank you so much for calling it a suspense. Even I didn't consider that angle... It's really true.. Very often we ignore the mishap peninsula just because it didn't happen to us. It only breaks us when it's our time....

[John Alexander McFadyen]

An interesting and atmospheric write. The voice of the protagonist speaks with that stone cold heart even to the end when her own pain arrives. Some good metaphors add to this free verse poem.

[Lia Columbus]

Thank you for your honest words..
Lia