the after days

the after days

 

 

 

 

the façade

a permanent smile

perpetual greeting 

with winking eyes

but sinking heart

 

an arrangement of grief

established years ago

when life chose to rupture

 

the walk is brisk,

affirmative

with purpose

but the severed soul

is the shadow behind

 

eternity is a creeping monument

an urn filled with questions

and the tears

that hold it dear.

 

 

erin-cilberto

6/27/23

Reviews

[Veronica]

A beautiful poem, this hit me hard because it relates to the loss of my girlfriend.
Greif never goes away, and the weight put on your shoulders to act normal after you lose someone is always there, but, we get stronger shoulders after a while. I hope that you are coping well.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you TeaandBooks...sorry for your grief.
j.

[emmajoygreen]

How many people can say, hand on heart. 'I have never felt sad'? Loss and its pain is commonplace, a blink that scars flesh forever. So, for the most, we try to walk briskly and boldly; try to put on that brave face that belies the tears that could easily twist one's spirit from dawn to dusk. I know and so do you and you and you ad infinitum. Tis said that the person who smiles and laughs too much is often the one who lives with any one of a multitude of pains.

Your words break the record of how to be, to write - and unlike me, can say it briefly but with wisdom and sincerity. As ever always. thank you for sharing, jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you so much for your kind review, em,
j.

[Stella Armour]

Putting a brave face on when really grief is the only thing in your heart is very hard to do...

[jacob erin-cilberto]

It sure is...
thank you, Stella,
j.

[Vol]

Jacob,
That is about as close as it gets ... In the last few years, I've lost three people who helped make my life... My dad, my wife, and the love of my life, so I have become much too familiar with your images...
Vol

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I am sorry for your losses, Vol.
yes, too familiar.
j.

[Vol]

Like Edgar Rice Burroughs' character, John Carter, declares, "I still live!"

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Jacob... the last verse is how we feel about Eternity...
filled with questions... that haunt the Present. gently, Pat

[jacob erin-cilberto]

couldn't have said it better, my friend...
thank you
j.

[Akinlolu]

At some point in life, we will all have to smile even though our hearts are broken. And we will will all have to wear our grief with dignity. And we will all have to walk with a bounce in our steps even though our souls have been severed. It's not hypocrisy but courage. Eternity is a different ball of wax. It's inscrutable to most. Lot's of questions about what lies on the other side. But one thing is sure: eternity pulls us closer and closer to itself every second. And like spaceships caught in the gravitational pull of a black hole, we're helpless to stop our ultimate intersection with it. This piece deals with grief, regret, surviving the past and our final appointment with death. This is my humble opinion.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I like that analogy...spaceships caught in the pull of a black hole.
Thank you, Akinlolu,
read moreI like that analogy...spaceships caught in the pull of a black hole.
Thank you, Akinlolu,
j.

[Akinlolu]

You're always welcome

[light and ashes]

I am almost convinced you wrote this about or for me..
an instant favorite.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you light...glad you could relate somehow.
j.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

I really love this and can relate to this poem in so many ways. The descriptives throughout are poignant and beautiful. The last stanza in particular is superb.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind words, Linda Marie,
j.

[Sami Khalil]

I feel lots of life's realizations in this touching poem; weighed with memories, strung on eternity. Time is a construct, knowledge is an instruct, experience is a conduct, eternity is a promised home product.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Sami,
j.

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome sir Jacob.

[Gee]

The pain of grief subsides, takes it's place in the heart, mind, alongside past events until both no longer have room for the good that abounds in our lives, makes for a pretty sad existence

[jacob erin-cilberto]

for some, it sure does, Gee,
hope you are well...
j.