Who Am I?

Here are two poems with one theme - the feeling of loss when a spouse or someone dear to you leaves or passes away.  I wrote these two poems after my father died in 1995, when God helped me empathize with my mother and her great loss.  These poems were from her point-of-view and helped me understand some of what she felt.  I thought perhaps someone might need them today.

    Without Him

He and she, she and he.

Always together, never apart.

Year after year,

The tie that binds

Wound tighter and tighter.

When he laughed, she laughed;

When he was sad, she was sadder.

His habits were ingrained in

Her daily routine, and she

Lived for the light of his smile.

His smile was taken away, and

Her world suddenly darkened

How to survive in the half-light

Of each new day. A day without him.

                                                 

   Who Am I?

She was a part of him;

Her identity entwined with his,

Melding together into one.

When their union was torn asunder

She asked, "Who am I now?"

Her movements were unsure;

Her thoughts full of questions.

The whole had been split into half.

How does half a person carry on?

PHOTO: I took the picture in Loveland, Colorado. The statue is entitled "Flora," by Joe Hess. She looks sad, as if she too might have lost someone she loves.