Beautiful Bittersweet Life Poems

Exploring the world of life and grief through poetry.

Tag: Bittersweet Life

  • If I Could Dog-Ear a Day

    If I Could Dog-Ear a Day

    Title inspired by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

    I’d mark the days when it was just the three of us,
    sitting around the glass-top table in your cozy Florida kitchen.
    Although one of five children,
    for those times, I was your only child,
    soaking up the sweetness of having you two all to myself.
    The click, click, click of the cards as we shuffled the deck
    for the many games of rummy we’d play.
    Sharing stories of your life, often heard, but always enjoyed.
    Mom, always bragging about being the
    rummy champion on Center Street as a child,
    was never a graceful loser but was always ready to start anew.
    Dad holding onto his cards to get the most points in a play,
    even if it meant losing big if one of us played the last card first.
    These simple everyday moments are treasures
    I hold onto when I miss you the most.

  • Relentless Appreciation

    Relentless Appreciation

    Finding Joy After Loss

    When the heart breaks open from the searing pain of
    unbearable loss and the walls crumble to the ground,
    the unimaginable happens:
    relentless appreciation for what is left behind.
    It streams from my soul with the force of a tsunami.
    My love for those I meet in person and online has grown,
    and I feel joy when I spend time in their presence.
    My soul is filled with peace as I traverse the garden path,
    captivated by the beauty of the flowering plants
    and the perfumed, soaked air they create.
    I watch the flying creatures with fascination as they busy themselves finding food and building homes.
    I love the sound of birdsong, whether I’m wandering outside
    or enjoying their symphony from inside my home.
    For knowing there is but a short time
    between birth and death, I breathe in deeply
    all that life has to offer me.

  • Extraordinary Power of Everyday Moments

    Extraordinary Power of Everyday Moments

    For Mike

    Because love is about the small everyday moments that we share,
    the pain of your absence was especially severe in
    the early minutes, hours, days, months and years after you died.
    The song you wrote that first captured my heart.
    How I fit so neatly into your embrace,
    especially in the mornings when we met in the kitchen for breakfast.
    The way that you shaved my legs when my pregnant
    belly made that task an impossibility.
    Your words of encouragement when I’d try something new,
    believing in me when I didn’t have faith in myself.
    How we were partners in running the house,
    each bringing our special talents so no one carried all the weight.
    You were my companion in parenting our kids,
    never shying away from dirty diapers or vomiting children.
    Even wringing out the cloth diapers that had been soaking
    in bleach before putting them in the wash.
    Being my person to run things by, even if I knew what I wanted to do.
    It was nice not to have to make every decision alone.
    The way that only you could wash the laundry,
    so that the clothes felt just right.
    Going to concerts together.
    Quiet evenings at home watching our favorite shows.
    The sense of humor and inside jokes we shared.
    The list goes on of these extraordinary ordinary moments
    that I miss so much about you.

  • The Gift I Didn’t Ask For

    The Gift I Didn’t Ask For

    I sat slumped on the floor,
    the wrapping torn off the box.
    As I reached inside,
    I already knew that I didn’t want this present,
    but there was a no return policy stapled to the gift.

    Who was the giver that would lay
    such a heavy unwanted inheritance
    for me to carry with me
    as I wander the world for the rest of my days.

    The giver sits next to me,
    wrapping one arm around my shoulder
    as their other hand wipes away
    the tears that run down my cheeks.

    “Dear one,” they say,
    “I know that this present feels like a curse,
    and you’d rather that I’d disappear with it,
    leaving your world unshaken.”

    “But grief is interwoven with the love that preceded it
    like a finely knitted sweater.
    The tattered garment that you now possess
    is the love that remains.”

    I pulled the sweater to my heart,
    rubbing the holes that plague this once intact garment,
    knowing that my body will learn to adjust to the chill that the holes let in,
    while the rest of the sweater will warm me with your memories and love.

  • Meet Me Under The Blood Moon

    Meet Me Under The Blood Moon

    For Mike

    I wrestled the camera onto the tripod,
    preparing for the appearance of the blood red moon.
    I traipsed in and out of the house,
    making sure the camera base fit tightly to the stand,
    gathering extra batteries so I could capture the moment
    and adding layers of clothing
    to keep me warm from the bitter night air.
    Finally, everything was set,
    and I could enjoy the celestial drama.

    What I found as I tilted my head upwards in between shots
    was a wave of peace washing over me.
    On this day when you died thirteen years ago
    you felt so close in this otherworldly expanse of time and space.
    As the red shadow floated next to the dazzling moon
    it was like we were dancing in the sky.
    And though I can no longer feel your arms around me
    or hear you speak my name,
    at that moment, I knew that you were somewhere,
    just out of reach, watching over me from another horizon.