Rita Bourland © 2010
If I Could
If I could
write a song,
I would find
notes and chords
to ease the
sorrow in your heart.
If I could
paint a picture,
I would mix
colors to match the sunrise
then give you
a canvas
brushed with the
dawn.
If I could
sail,
I would steer
my boat across the sea
and return
with soothing tides
captured in a
bottle.
If I could find a sage
to explain the mysteries of life and death,
I would pay a
king’s ransom
for his
erudite words,
then bring
them to you in a box
with a gilded
lid.
If I could
find the right words,
I would speak
to your pain,
wrapping your
sadness in lyrical prose;
pouring comforting
words
‘round your
wounded heart.
If I could
bring your loved one back,
And allow him
to live once more,
I would do
that and more.
When there’s a
loss so deep and raw
that nothing
touches or heals,
then I would
be your friend and stay with you,
sharing in
your silence
until you wished
to speak again.
When someone close to me loses a loved one, I always struggle with the right words. This is the best expression of sympathy, and in the form of poetry, I've ever read.
ReplyDeleteJ
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is just perfect! Libby
ReplyDeleteRita, I remember this poem from OS. But reading it again, something new has hit me. And that is the compassion with which you wrote it. I would be hard-pressed to point to another person I know who can feel another's sorrow as viscerally as you do. Not only do you feel it, but you wish to alleviate it. The power of love in this poem just shines, and we are better for it.
ReplyDeleteI know that sorrow is an important part of life, but the idea of alleviating it is compelling. What a different world we would live in if that were true. Something to contemplate.
ReplyDelete