by

Remorse

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Remorse

The blue bucket holds
a careless expanse of water
and a limp cross
of drowned feathers
and silenced song

From the tilted bucket
water spills,
the small sodden body
tumbles
in a final
earthbound
flight

I resettle the bucket
upside down
Too little
Too late

Molly Hogan (c) 2017

This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by the talented Irene Latham at her blog, Live Your Poem. Stop by to enjoy some poetry!

18 thoughts on “Remorse”

  1. Dan Rothermel says:
    October 13, 2017 at 5:19 am

    Today’s poem reminds me of a Chris Van Allsberg story. I’m intrigued, but I haven’t quite got its meaning for me. I read it again and again. And need more time to decipher. Well-played.

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  2. margaretsmn says:
    October 13, 2017 at 5:44 am

    Oh, no! I gather that you found a dead bird. Such a sad poem.

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  3. Irene Latham says:
    October 13, 2017 at 7:42 am

    Molly, I love this blue bucket with that strand feathers and silenced song! Such a beautiful stanza! Thank you for sharing. Happy poacher Friday. XO

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  4. Kay McGriff (@kaymcgriff) says:
    October 13, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    Such haunting loss in this beautiful poem.

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  5. lindabaie says:
    October 13, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    No more need be said, but one imagined song that you remembered. Beautiful, Molly.

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  6. Michelle Heidenrich Barnes says:
    October 13, 2017 at 4:25 pm

    Oh, the poor birdie! I think your poem is singing its final song, Molly.

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  7. Violet Nesdoly says:
    October 13, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    Aww, this is poignant, quite magical. Love that “careless expanse of water” and “Too little / Too late”

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  8. katswhiskers says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    ‘a careless expanse of water’. First read, I wonder about that limp cross. Second read it is perfect. And that final earthbound flight.
    A sad song, beautifully written.

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  9. Linda Mitchell says:
    October 14, 2017 at 5:14 am

    Oh, my…..even though the story is sad…the completeness and the finality of this moment in time is like a photograph. Well done, you. The bucket upside down. It’s like a grave marker.

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  10. Brenda Davis Harsham says:
    October 14, 2017 at 11:39 am

    Aw. Such poignancy. Straight from Michelle Kogan’s sad post about her dad to this one, and now I feel like crying for the echoes of sadness we poets feel so deeply.

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  11. Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing says:
    October 15, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    A beautiful melancholy tribute to this bird Molly, so sorry, but lovely sending off, thanks.

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