COLD WINTER WIND
62
By: Wayne Brown
I did not see your leaving coming; to me a surprise
I could not feel it in my heart or see it in your eyes
It seems that we had just started then suddenly it ends
Your leaving brought the chill of the cold winter wind
We promised each other eternity; a love for all our life
My happiest day on earth was when I took you for a wife
But things don’t seem to stay the same; changed so suddenly
The cold winter wind blew you away and put a chill in me
You could bring me happiness just sending a smile my way
You always brought me sunshine; seldom a gloomy day
Then without a single word I looked up and you were gone
Left me standing in the cold to face this winter wind alone
The pain of your absence is heavy on my heart each day
I yearn for your presence more the longer you are away
Though I pray for your return, memories are all that I hold
To shield me from the winter wind and keep away the cold
My days are long and endless, running together, indistinct
Time passes in syncopation like water dripping in the sink
Your love holds my heart and your memory fills my soul
Keeping away the chill of the winter wind so cold
Love is such a fleeting thing; seldom can we hold it in our heart
The fabric of it strains and tears when the seams are ripped apart
My life is now a lonely one without you in your normal place
The cold, winter wind chills my heart and fills its every space
Good things end all too quickly; time passes with such speed
We never know what we want until we lose what we need
Each day I place a rose on your headstone marker once again
Then walk on alone with my collar turned to the cold, winter wind
© Copyright WBrown2011. All Rights Reserved.
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Absolutely beautiful Wayne, I have a tear in my eye reading this. Brilliant, beautiful and up.
Love the rose,
Dang you are good!...That last verse brings it all home.
@BenWritings...Thank you so much. This came to me last night as I thought of losing love through death as opposed to a failed romance...both leave a bitterness for those who remain. Thanks for those great words, you humble me. WB
@thebluestar...Thank you so much. This was one of those subjects that I was not sure I could do justice to in verse. I did not want to reveal the manner of loss before I established the pain of it...hopefully I was able to do that. I felt the winter wind to be to most stark example of that emptiness. WB
Yes, the end actually really was unexpected
The pain of loss I have felt has been through abandonment and rejection, not death.
I am rarely impacted so much by ANYTHING I read. Wonderful work, again.
@CMerritt...Thank you...I wanted to hold that revelation to the last verse so that the reader could plainly see that love lost is just that...no matter how it happens, we hurt. Thanks for those good words! WB
This was absolutely beautiful and heartwrenching....Love lost is one that tears from the seams. A double edged sword remembering the happy times only to reminded of the pain of losing that person. Thank you for sharing...
@BenWritings...Thanks much Ben..I appreciate the feedback! WB
@Pachuca213...Thank you for the read. I thought about this subject last night and the verse just came pouring out this morning...kind of like baking a cake! LOL! WB
Ohh Wayne, that makes my heart sad, but beautiful words upon your pages of bittersweet poetry. To have loved and lost to death does leave you wondering and asking so many whys. I lost my husband last May and it brings to many memories of there is no closure, only that of eternal rest.
Blessings and hugs,
Laurie
@LaurieDawn...Yes, perhaps love lost to death, especially sudden death, is that which is the most unanswered and the absolute hardest to endure. I think it leaves a bitterness for some almost like being abandoned...takes a while to get through I am sure. God Bless. WB
Just beautiful. You continue to amaze.
Up, beautiful, and awesome.
Beautiful, my friend. The water dripping in the sink grounded it for me. You captured that space so well, the suddenly negative space where once the beloved lived and that now frames our life in a different way. Awesome job!
So beautiful, but so sad, Wayne. I was hoping that the last stanza would somehow bring your love back. Must be the eternal romantic in me. Bravo.
While this was a sad home it was so very beautiful. You really brought home the pain in losing a loved one through death. Your poetry continues to amaze me as it is excellent. Voted/rated awesome!
@WillStarr...Aw, I just get lucky now and then and I learn from good writers like you, my friend! WB
@SilverGenes...Good to see you out and about again! Hope you have everything in order now! LOL! You speak of exactly what I was aiming for in this poem...I wanted to see if I could show that space where the hurt and loss lives and mask it in a loss of love that everyone, until the end, thinks is simply a product of two people splitting up. I felt there were huge similarities and I am getting my confirmation. Thanks so much for the praise! WB
@drbj...I am afraid this is one of those beautiful stories that ends in reality. Thanks for the good words! WB
@Pamela99...I try not to "force" poetry. Once I come upon a subject I wait for the feelings to flow, usually they do if I just think about it a bit and try to put myself in that place and feel the emotion for myself. My fear was that I could not really touch that emotion that I had not experienced. I had to pull from the loss of my father a couple of years back to find the emotion. Thanks for your kind comments! WB
Losing a loved on is a hard emotion to really share.
@dahoglund...It certainly is, I gave it my best try. Thanks DA. WB
So powerful! And even though it is sad -- the line:
Your love holds my heart and your memory fills my soul --
surely means the love and memories will always be in the heart/soul. With feeling as amazing and beautiful that love brings, the loss of it must also have equally accompanying feelings.
Great song choice too.
@Truckstop Sally...It can mean that for Sal! You know me...my poetry means anything you need it to! LOL! Seriously, I felt that was the only thing left to balance the futility and anger of a sudden loss of a loved one like that...the love and memories. I wanted to present a sense of loss, a sense of bitterness, but not so much paint an enraged person...just one who was feeling the pain of loss. WB
A marriage counselor told me several years ago that the best way to deal with an ending marriage was to mourn the loss of the love. Go through the grieving process - not with anger (like you said enraged), but treat it as a loss. It makes more sense to me now -- the love died. Maybe drinking the Penguin is helping. Ha! Ever thought about being a shrink? Ha!
What? The ditch not wide enough? LOL! WB
Ha! You just wear so many hats so very well!
Wide, deep, stretching to infinity in every which way. . . how about a few clones?? Now, that is a hub -- WB Clones!!
This poem is so beautiful and so heart wrenching, I actually felt the cold wind at my back. Voted up and beautiful.
Well done Wayne. We haven't talked in a long time. Got to get you back on the show.
All the Best,
Tim
How did I miss this one? (Hub pages e-mails of hubs by our favorites is asleep yet again, it seems.)
Just exquisite; and melds so beautifully with the music. The image of the rose in the snow is the perfect reflection of how your words touch the heart. Up and Beautiful.
@Truckstop Sally...I could use a couple of clones right now! WB
@breakfastpop...Hey, if you felt the wind, I feel I accomplished my goal! WB
@TimBryce...Thanks Tim for those kind words. Just let me know regarding the show. I am out of town the week of the 28th and the last week of March. Otherwise, I should be able to work it out. WB
@Genna East...It only published late morning yesterday so it probably did not make yesterday's notifications. So, you are not late at all! Thanks for the buttons! WB
You have left me speechless...no small feat.
@Amy Becherer...Wow! If I keep getting comments like this, I am going to start looking for that Nobel Prize to come my way! LOL! Thanks so much Amy...glad I could achieve the effect! WB
My fellow scribe Wayne Brown writes love poems with the tenderest heart of a true romantic. I agree with Amy, you left me breathless and speechless. I certainly felt that cold winter wind on my soul, leaving me with both happy and sad feelings.
You couldn't have chosen a better video and song to compliment this fantastic write. You simply get better and better Wayne with each scribe you compose. Bravo, I applaud you.
@saddlerider1...It looks like this one may set the bar for the rest of my life! LOL! This thought came to me and I slept on it...wrote one verse in my head while walking the dogs and then the rest just flowed. I have tried to slow down a bit lately and let my creative side get its breathe. I am trying to keep the quality there in the write as you and I have agreed must be there if we are to lure the reader. Thanks for the good words, my friend. I do treasure them. WB
Sounds like a lonely cowboy singing a sad song. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
@A.A. Zavala...Thank you. I wanted to paint the heart of a man at loss for love that never could be regained. Glad you liked it. WB
Half way through I thought, "oh no, she's dead!" then I rallied, the pain I felt through your words could not continue. My brain told me "No, she's just gone, she'll be back"... but no, you twisted the knife with your last stanza.
This is as it should be.
It wouldn't have been as beautiful, moving, poignant, or memorable any other way.
You really are amazing.
How do you do it?...I'm thinking it must be the cowboy hat.
@sueroy333...I don't totally know how I do it myself except that I don't try to force it. Subjects either flow with me or we move on. Once they do flow, I don't mess with them much...I don't get wrapped too much around the axle as to continuing to tweak each and every word. I find that the way in initially comes out usually reflects my emotion best. Then I go with it. Readers proved to me long ago that they were a better judge of my material than I was...and they continue to amaze me with the feedback...humble me as well. See, you should have gone with your gut in the first place but you let me talk you out of it only to use it on you in the end. I still have the hat...and it still fits! LOL! WB
As I've regained my power of speech now, Wayne, this piece is a standout in the natural, unstruggled for, quality of flow, rhythm and content. It is simply exceptional.
@Amy Becherer...Thank you for such great comments...I am humbled by the response to this one. It came to me so quickly, I had no idea that it would strike such a note but I am glad that it does. WB
I agree, Wayne - beautifully done - love is a gift though and sometimes I think we forget how precious it is. It's important to hold onto it and treasure it a day at a time because as you say....you never know when it's going to vanish into thin air.
@akirchner...You are correct, Audrey. Love is something someone chose to share with us...a gift. Nothing says that it is ours to hold on to forever...that's what makes it so precious. Thanks for the good comments. WB
I think you really can get to the heart of how you feel in a most insightful and lyrical way. I presume from what you say here, the loss was real and that's what comes across. You've got that gift of sincere words. A privelege to read. Thanks for the giving.
@chspublish...No it was not a real loss of the kind per se. I had to draw from a rather sudden divorce I suffered years ago and the death of my father two years back to get to the emotion. I had my doubts as to whether I could accomplish that credibly but the readers have reassured me thank goodness. Thanks for those beautiful words...I guess I am either lucky or blessed. WB
Wayne...You have crafted a wonderfully structured and flowing poem that paints with brilliant color the deeply held emotions of loss...Reading this poem aloud gave me a sense of regret for some reason...
The snow-encrusted rose is a poignant symbol of that loss...a beauty frozen in time, like cherished memories of a love departed...
Voted up, way up, and beautiful...Thank you for sharing this poetic gem with us...Larry
@maven101...Thank you, Larry. Those words mean much to me coming from you. You seem to have such a good sense with regard to poetry...like those who understand a great wine. I do appreciate the kind words. I did not have a personal experience to draw on other than my divorce many years ago and the death of my father in 2007. I am so glad that I could pull enough from those two events to make this work. Thanks again for you great feedback. WB
Very good Wayne Brown....you are going great.Keep it up.Thanks.
@gajanis786...I will do as long as I can! LOL! Glad you like 'em! WB
Wayne Brown, I have missed your tender words. I am remiss for being away so long. ~ Laura
@lalesu...You could not have picked a better verse to return on...my sister's favorite. So glad to see you! WB
This is so beautiful, brought me to tears. I was so sure that you lost her to someone or something, never did i see the end. I could see you walk away with your collar turned up against the cold. I found you through Sunnie Day's invitation..Thank you so much..
@always exploring...Please "explore" here as much as you like. I think I might have a few more poems that you will enjoy as well. Thanks for the encouragement and the good words.WB
BenWritings Level 3 Commenter 15 months ago
One of the most incredibly beautiful poems I have ever read, seriously.
A masterpiece. Very touching and I can relate perfectly to the emotion in that.
Seriously, no exaggeration, one of the best I have ever seen.