The Daughter of Misery and Rain

 

 

She was the daughter of misery and rain.

He was the son of abandonment and rust.

Together, they gave birth to heartache and pain.

Now, they lay quietly sleeping with the dust.

 

I rose from the ashes like a question mark

at the close of a sentence of endless woe

and dared to glimmer in the gathering dark

as a beacon of light for the ones below.

 

I am a flower rooted deep in the soil

arching my back against a defiant sky

and strive to survive within this mortal coil

with water-spun clouds in the back of my eye.

 

Luna washes me clean with shimmering light.

The song in her voice carries hints of the seas;

and her hollow of sky bejewels the night

by glittering over her temple of trees.

 

I am cornered by time on the dagger’s edge,

clutching the silence on a slippery slope,

slicing open my soul and bearing this pledge:

"May the ensanguined past pierce my eyes with hope!"

 

I am the daughter of misery and rain.

I am the child of abandonment and rust;

and I have tasted both the heartache and pain

when all that remains are the shadows and dust.

Author's Note

Reviews

[Lydia Shutter]

Linda, your talent shines in this write. Your poems show deep sensitivity. Your words are elegant, refined, exquisite ...almost like a piece of jewelry to wear to a lavish affair! “Shadows and dust” can make us more aware of the beauty in this world.

“She was the daughter of misery and rain.
He was the son of abandonment and rust.”

Those two lines alone were enough to make me want to read the rest of the poem! Your poetry is in a class by itself, Linda. Truly. Lydi**

[Daniel Sala]

"She was the daughter of misery and rain.
He was the son of abandonment and rust.
Together, they gave birth to heartache and pain.
Now, they lay quietly sleeping with the dust."

I have little idea what this is about even on second reading, but the words are beautifully put together, gorgeous phrases/sentences which look cared for in their composition in a positive sense, a delight to read in its melancholy tinged with optimism which returns to the melancholy at the end.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Hello, Daniel, and thank you for the review. "She was the daughter of misery and rain" refers to my mother, who came from a very dysfunctional family, was molested by her stepfather, and actually gave birth to his son, who was later put up for adoption. When she was married to my father, she ended up cheating with his best friend. When my father discovered this, he committed suicide, at the age of 23. "He was the son of abandonment and rust" refers to my father, whose parents both died when he was a young boy. He always felt like no one loved him; and not having his parents, seemed to really scar him for life. "Together, they gave birth to heartache and pain" refers to me and my sister, with me being the "heartache" or as she put it "the worst mistake she ever made," and my sister being the "pain." She was named after my father and looked a great deal like him, which, in my opinion, stirred a great deal of pain within my mother. All in all, I think we both were constant reminders of her infidelity, which led to the inevitable suicide of my father. "Now, they lay quietly sleeping with the dust" refers to both of my parents. My father committed suicide when I was four years old. My mother died four years ago of a heart attack at the age of 59.

[Daniel Sala]

Hi Linda, thank you for such a frank explanation of the poem, it really helps to understand the piece well, much appreciated. You must be a very well-balanced person from your reply above, good for you. Once again, thanks for completing the story. I don't know what to say, we are all complicated creatures, everyone is their own universe, parents included. But still, a beautifully worded poem.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you. I've had to walk a tightrope in life from a very young age; and while I think I maintain my balance pretty well, I have fallen at times. One can't help but be affected by such tragedies in life, but I do believe they make you stronger in the end.

[Daniel Sala]

How true, experiences shape us and some make some people stronger and more aware in positive ways; I add that to be perfect at all times would not be human and is impossible anyway, a part of our charm are our imperfections and all those nearly slipping off the tight-rope that is life at times.

[1]

Amazing!! Speechless! That's all I can say! Wow!

[Elizabeth Marie O'neil-..]

Luna washes me clean with shimmering light.
The song in her voice carries hints of the seas;
and her hollow of sky bejewels the night
by glittering over her temple of trees.

I'm not sure why but this part is what really hit me. Very beautifully written. Thank you for sharing.

[MAC]

just wow....so incredibly original and not to mention the overall talent it takes to pull this off. absolutely brilliant.

[David Lewis Paget]

I always believed that true poetry was the intensification of language, whereby we reach deep inside us to claw out words and metaphors to describe the indescribable. This poem certainly does that, and there are few more poetic lines than

'her hollow of sky bejewels the night
by glittering over her temple of trees.'

Marvellous!

[Frieda P]

Breathless after reading this, it was awe inspiring from first line to last.....great read Linda.

[00000000000000000000000..]

Wow very deep Linda ! I gather the abandonment effect leaving you setting around for the rust to quake, I gather the taste of heartache and pain. Even though it sucks to see and feel all ,It makes one stronger in the end. I liked the flower rooted deep in the soil. Gosh I am glad someone writes to that effect. I have wrote many writes in the past about the rose that stands there with beauty perfected, and how her roots are planted deep before a ground:) I used it as a metaphor describing a love. Awesome write Linda:) Love the picture too they always set an image:)

[David Scott]

A rhymed and metered poem reading with the fluid grave of free verse. Well done!
This poem reads like an stylized dance.
A blessing of poetic grace.

[Dean]

You are one of the few, here, that mates picture and poem so perfectly! You grasp "aloneness"--the significance of it beautifully. You truly see it as "a beacon of light." Thanks so much for including me
in its rays.