Last Light
A trying day, its outcome pressing closer
with each moment of your restless sleep,
brings me to the river for a brief respite,
the warm summer breeze like a mother’s caress.
The sun will not rise again in a manner unchanged
by this setting, the last of its dazzling light upon the waves
becoming a sheen before being muted forever
in the final moments of its darkness.
I turn to go and return to your side, knowing
that, as I hold your hand through the night,
this sunset will be your last.
The prompt for Tears in rain – using our senses, from Sarah at dVerse, is to write a poem that tells a story or shows a character in the things they’ve sensed.
Image: sunset on the Niagara River
(click image for larger view in new tab)
rivrvlogr 
Such depth of sorrow at parting. Difficult to read, Ken.
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Thank you, Lisa. I did not expect to go in this direction when I saw the prompt, so I guess it sort of wrote itself.
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You are welcome. I understand about poems writing themselves when the spirit moves.
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This is very moving, Ken. I was struck by your use of “mother” in the first stanza – so tender- and then the moving on to anticipated loss. I wondered if this was a poem about the death of a parent? It’s so tender and so truthful.
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Thank you, Sarah. Yes, it’s a period of time, sort of rolled into one moment.
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A final vigil, described in a tender goodbye.
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Thank you, Beverly. I think that, in some instances, it’s all we can hope for.
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Nice line: “the warm summer breeze like a mother’s caress.” And nice last line about the last sunset.
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Thank you, Frank. In some instances, the simplest of pleasures can’t help but remind us of fond moments.
I think we all hope our last sunset is a gentle one.
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Death is a common motif out here on the trail tonight. As Lisa said, this one was hard to read. Two things bring me easily to tears–cello music and sad poetry.
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Thank you, Glenn. Unless they’re totally dulled in defense, the senses probably are highly piqued at a time such as this, which might make it come to mind for writers.
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Poignant. Touching. Definitely a work of sense and sensation reaching through to emotion, feeling, imminent grief. The simple power of saying goodbye.
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Thank you, Daniel. Sometimes, a lifetime in a moment.
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Watching someone die is a struggle. See the last breath…the last sunset
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It is, but still there is comfort. Thank you.
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Stunning – sad and sweet – a sunset to remember (either literally or figuratively in terms of moment vs period of time) – you’ve distilled a lot into so few lines. And quite the image!
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Thank you, Jazz. We want to remember the best moments. Sometimes, they’re woven through the least favorite.
And, I miss those sunsets on the river.
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Great Poem Ken.
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Thank you, Dwight.
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Sadness and sorrow–beautifully done. That last sunset, in reality and metaphor. It is a gentle, touching farewell.
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Thank you, Merril. A lifetime of memories playing out in the mind during such a brief window, yet with all attention on the current moment.
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Yes. . .
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Grief finds its mirror in the natural world, and that can provide solace, even as we continue to mourn. Fitting that the river should be your companion here. (K)
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Thank you, Kerfe.
There were evenings when I would stop by the river to try to let the tension flow out of me following a visit, near to her last days. Try.
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Rivers are good and faithful friends.
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The sunset is such a moving image for such a painful goodbye… great poem
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Thank you, Björn.
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