12 May 2025

Mom died on Mayday


 


Branches in autumn
let their leaves fall sans protest,
nonviolently.
 
But I ache to hold
onto you who slid away
peacefully asleep.
 
The day you died weighs
on me, hay bale on my back,
brick in my belly.
 
Yet Mother’s Day reminds
me that you were the tree, and
I the leaves and seeds.
 
You let go gracefully, 
you who loved trees, and brought home 
relics and drawings.
 
I can love you in
the trees, and relieve some of
the weightiness of grief.  


For my prompt "Grief" at What's Going On? 


My blog poems are rough drafts.
Please respect my copyright.
© 2025 Susan L. Chast


12 comments:

  1. Sherry Blue Sky5/12/2025 5:07 PM

    Susan, this is so beautiful - your mother the tree, you the branches and leaves. "I can love you in the trees".....I love that and it makes me think of your glorious magnolia tree that fills your window with beauty when it blooms. You could name it Dot!

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  2. Mary5/12/2025 5:33 PM

    Oh, this is so touching, Susan. I love thinking of your mother as the tree and you the leaves and seeds. I am sure that your mother left much behind in you, that you are your mother's daughter, and that you can continue to love her in the trees. I love that you shared one of her drawings with us too.

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  3. Sumana Roy5/13/2025 1:33 AM

    It's as if you were writing on my behalf Susan, exquisitely.
    "I can love you in
    the trees, and relieve some of
    the weightiness of grief." So true, so true. I feel the delicate touch of the words, the grief and accepting the truth with such beauty and dignity.

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  4. Kim M. Russell5/14/2025 11:36 AM

    These branches in autumn celebrate your mother’s life and mourn her death beautifully, Susan. I felt the same way on the day my mother died and Mother’s Day also reminds me of her. What a wonderful way to think of your relationship with your mother the tree and you the leaves and seeds.

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  5. Rajani5/14/2025 9:28 PM

    So sorry for your loss, Susan... and what a touching tribute...to let go gracefully...like a tree lets go of leaves, preparing for renewal...that takes grace and wisdom. Sending hugs as you find solace under the trees.

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  6. Jae Rose5/14/2025 11:48 PM

    What a beautiful appreciation and memory of your mother and all she gifted you and the world - Jae

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  7. Dora5/15/2025 4:22 PM

    "I can love you in/the trees" -- so moving, Susan, and such a deep consolation to have too in the midst of the grief. I like the imagery of it as a "brick in my belly." Rings true, and heavily so.

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  8. rallentanda5/16/2025 10:30 PM

    A very moving poem...your love for your mother shines through.

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  9. rudraprayaga5/17/2025 3:03 AM

    Every one will remember their gone Mom, Susan. Lovely.

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  10. Anonymous5/17/2025 11:27 PM

    What a beautiful eulogy to your mother. Thinking of you as you grieve your mother's passing. Suzanne - Wayfaring blog - Wordpress

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  11. purplepeninportland.com5/18/2025 7:58 PM

    "I can love you in the trees"
    Such a beautiful poem, Susan!

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  12. Pete5/19/2025 10:09 AM

    That is a fitting tribute. She would have liked the analogy.

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