This is what came right out of me. I’m sharing (for the first time in here) without editing what arose. Thank you for sharing this prompt & I’m happy to hear you get a reprieve. Sending love. 💞
Automobile Accident
Breath, then death
Cataclysmic Changes
Dead in mere seconds
Eternal life is his to Explore
Fire blazes & scorches mine to ash
God is with us both
Heaven--2 inches away & unreachable
I wish I could follow him
Joshua & Jane keep me here
Kenny no longer in my tomorrow
Love is all around us
Misery, my sleepless companion
No one knows all I hold
Only I walk this road
People stand beside me though, the brave few who remain
Quickly you realize who will
Reminders are everywhere
Senses recall it all
Time makes sense no more
Under another setting sun
Vibrant colors last moments then disappear into darkness
Wake up to another day & have to remember again
EXtract a reason to rise, eventually
Yearning for him, our life, our future
Zaps any energy, leaves me empty & breathless yet alive somehow still
Sep 4, 2022·edited Sep 4, 2022Liked by Suleika Jaouad
A is for arriving in time to say goodbye before you close your eyes forever
B is for being about to wet your lips and bring some comfort in your final moments
C is for trying to cope without you in my day-to-day life to offer guidance even when I didn't seek it
D is for dying as you lived, bravely and fighting till the end
E is for all the elephants, trunks up, displayed at the foot of your casket
F is for feeling like an I've lost my best friend and protector when I lost my mom
G is for grieving; how will I tell Jon his grandma is gone, and he didn't get a chance to say goodbye
H is for the heavy heart, but I know you were there as we were making the arrangements with Krowicki, did you have something to do with the lunch invitation
I is for ignoring your calls because I was too busy; I have time now
J is for just one more opportunity to pick up the phone and hear you ask me what I'm up to
K is for keeping your memory alive through poems and stories
L is for you being Jon's Luca Bratz, his protector. If that type of protection was good enough for the Godfather, it was good enough for your precious grandson.
M is for being the best mom you knew how to be. Too bad I didn't appreciate you till you were gone. Isn't that always the way
N is for never letting us go without. In the 1970s, when times were tough, you could always scrape together enough money for eggs and potatoes.
O is for opening your heart, and what a big heart it was
P is for preparing me for life, telling me a woman needs an education to make it in this world
Q is for teaching me to question; you brought home lessons on questioning authority as a shop steward at the electronic factory
R is for raising four daughters as a single parent, you were firm, but love was in the background
S is for saving your pennies in your car door for Jon to discover when you visited
T is for tough love; I believe you were one of the originators
U is for unconditional in every way. One of a kind, even though you were a twin
V is for the vision you had for your life and your daughter's lives
W is for your accepting that your two oldest daughters would marry men who were cousins and lived in Wisconsin. But two daughters were enough, her two younger daughters remained nearby in Jersey, and for that, you were grateful
X is for marking the point of impact you had on each life you touched
Y is for your legacy living on through your grandchildren and great-grandchildren
Z is for zoom too bad that wasn't around back in the 1990s; you would have loved it
Thank you for this post and its incredible poem. They are both full of so much of everything. I am very very glad you’ve got this month to reinvigorate and wish you the most loving, creative time which I am sure you’ll have. Some of the lines in the poem took my breath away - isn’t it magnificent on the complexities of pain and love?.
As in “Please, son, don’t visit me” And yet I visited and did not please, and he would not
thank you for this! i immediately sat down and wrote the letters A through Z down the side of a page in my journal ... then wrote all the words that came to me describing my illness (severe complex-ptsd as a result of over fifteen years of emotional abuse by four members of my family of origin) & my return to wellness (which after years of suffering the ravages of c-ptsd, while slowly gaining the fruits of good therapy to counter it, i am blessedly beginning to return to Life). i intend to take this & expand upon it, telling the story in abecedarian form of my journey from the kingdom of illness to the kingdom wellness. the simple act of writing the words that came to me was deeply healing. i look forward to having time to immerse myself in this prompt. from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Your good news is the best thing ever! I want more of that for you and I hope this little window you’ve been given is the start of more good things to come.
I recently found out I have three skin cancers, one melanoma and two basal cells. I’m reeling from the shock, but the melanoma was removed with clear margins, and the first basal cell was removed this past Thursday. I go back in two weeks for those results and to have the last one removed. I learned that the cumulative effects of blistering sunburns I was allowed to get as a child was the beginning of where I am today. The sun is not my friend.
The poem is exquisite perfectly timed or me as my husband falls, falls again...and again ...goes into the hospital for the third time in as many weeks, the step by step of the poem gave me some momentary sure footing…
Sep 4, 2022·edited Sep 4, 2022Liked by Suleika Jaouad
This was an interesting one. Thanks.
Prompt 207.
“The alphabet, for Naima”, by Roger Reeves.
An abecedarian is a poetic form where the first letter of each line or stanza follows sequentially through the alphabet. In “The Alphabet, for Naima,” Reeves invokes this form to explore loss and legacy and to bridge time and space and generations.
After reading the poem, reflect on a pivotal moment—maybe loss, maybe new life—and use the abecedarian form to share that memory with a loved one. Allow the letters of the alphabet to take you where they will, to gather the varied strains of human experience into one resonant song.
A is for your Mother’s angelic smile as she comes to you.
B is for her beauty, inside and out.
C is for the comfort she gave to all of us, even strangers.
D is for death, her departure was premature.
E is for Eagle, whose quiet soaring reach symbolizes her Spirit.
F is for Fudge, as in Fudge It. Go away emptiness. Come back faith. Hers was strong.
G is for the gentle poetry she wrote, turning hard stories into beautiful lessons.
H is for her heavenly cooking.
I is for the illness that took her so quickly. Why? Why so soon?
J is the first letter of your name, which means “Praised by God”, and for the joy you bring.
K is for your father’s middle name which he hates because it’s his father’s name.
L is for the loneliness we all feel at times, because of the loss.
M is for the “Momma and Poppa Song”, Fields of Gold, by Sting. How could we forget the story behind this song?
N is for nurse – your Mom was a compassionate nurse.
O is for onion whose layers are like ours, each representing a dimension.
P is for pink peonies, one of your Mom’s favorites after lilacs.
Q is for quartet, our family of four, which is now three.
R is for the infinite road we are on. When will we get there? Will we realize our worth in the limit as the distance approaches infinity?
S is for the unfinished sewing projects. Waiting for completion. But, I don’t know how to sew.
T is for teacher. Your Mom was one.
U is for your Mom’s unbounded love. She felt her unchosen departure was unfair – her words: “This really sucks”.
V is for violet, the color of her favorite flower – the lilac.
W is for the wall between conscious worlds preventing us from realizing we are still connected.
X is for xylophone. Do you remember how much fun we had playing with yours? The bars were colored like a rainbow.
Y is for yellow – your Mom’s favorite color.
Z is for zucchini bread and the aroma of it baking. Your Mom made many loaves when the leaves fell.
Amy I lost you to COVID two years ago
Brother in law made the call to me saying “Amy is dead!”
Couldn’t catch my breath from the shock!
Died you died and I used to say to you “if you don’t take better care of yourself “I’ll kill you” and we laughed
Enormous grief and despair on losing my safe harbor
Family never loved and appreciated you like we showed one another
God ain’t helping right now
How can I go on without you?
Idiots we are sometimes the way we tell someone the news of a loved one’s death!
Jews we both are but what does this have to do with the shock of your death? Maybe nothing.
Kite flying I love because of its freedom and now you are free from your pained body
Love between us Is bigger than I could ever imagined
Miss you daily and will miss you ‘till the day I die.
No! don’t tell me grief will pass because it’s always there but maybe just a wee bit easier to have as a resident in my body and soul.
“Open your mouth and tell me how you really feel instead of sitting on the fence.
Pretty you never felt until I gave you a birthday gift at a makeup fest at Sephora and the picture you sent to me after “you felt pretty “
Queen like you never felt until you opened your mouth and shared your beautiful voice in song
Rich and deep was our friendship filled with complications
Soul sister there’s no one like you and their will never be
Time goes by and I still miss you and I always will
Ups and down in our friendship but anything worthwhile you hang in there and work it out and we did!
Visiting your grave I will never do because I speak to you daily
Writing this way I feel like I’m a virgin in unknown territory
XYZ don’t matter to me because I’ve said it all! “I love you dear Amy”
A treasure of such
Beautiful news
Caught my heart from our
Dearest Suleika this morning
Eager for more,
For more
Giving us much
Happiness.
In this time of Nature's transition.
Joy of Suleika's wonderful news
Kindness..kindred souls
Loving hearts
More , more, more to come
News. Such wonderful news
Open heartedness
Please please please. More great news for our beloved Suleika
Quietude. Paves the wave for such beauty
Rest. Respite. To a place of rejoice
SULEIKA. OUR BELOVED SUKEIKA
Treasure. Today's treasure
Undulating joy
Very very very happy for Suleika's news
Wonders. The wonders of the moment.
Xylophone. Let's all play our xylophones in celebration.
You, yours, ours. Together
Zebra. Suleika. I was reminded of the zebra in one of your gorgeous paintings.
Or was that just my dream
With much love and gratitude to you, Dearest Suleika, Roger and Carmen for today.
And I Began to Cry Deep, Endless Feelings.
Grief, Heavy and Icky.
Jagged, Knotted with Living Memories
Nostalgically Overwhelming
Primal Questions Replaying Sadness and
Teasing hope of Unity
Vexing, Widening X's like kisses
Yelling, "Zeeeeeeeeee"
bringing me childlike hope to face another day.
This is what came right out of me. I’m sharing (for the first time in here) without editing what arose. Thank you for sharing this prompt & I’m happy to hear you get a reprieve. Sending love. 💞
Automobile Accident
Breath, then death
Cataclysmic Changes
Dead in mere seconds
Eternal life is his to Explore
Fire blazes & scorches mine to ash
God is with us both
Heaven--2 inches away & unreachable
I wish I could follow him
Joshua & Jane keep me here
Kenny no longer in my tomorrow
Love is all around us
Misery, my sleepless companion
No one knows all I hold
Only I walk this road
People stand beside me though, the brave few who remain
Quickly you realize who will
Reminders are everywhere
Senses recall it all
Time makes sense no more
Under another setting sun
Vibrant colors last moments then disappear into darkness
Wake up to another day & have to remember again
EXtract a reason to rise, eventually
Yearning for him, our life, our future
Zaps any energy, leaves me empty & breathless yet alive somehow still
Anxiety suffocates.
Barely know what to do.
Clues - listen to what is unfolding.
Drama is overrated.
Easy does it.
Freedom in movement.
Grief - tricky and capricious.
Help is not on the way.
I made mistakes.
Just breathe.
Kindness (random acts of).
Love. Laugh. Listen.
Music is therapy.
No is a complete sentence.
Oh the endless blue sky!
Please and thank you.
Quest after rest.
Rest after quest.
Surrender is useful.
Thankful (for tons).
Understand.
Vary your steps.
Why not?
X out hate.
Yielding is easier than you'd think.
Zen (it all boils down to).
A is for arriving in time to say goodbye before you close your eyes forever
B is for being about to wet your lips and bring some comfort in your final moments
C is for trying to cope without you in my day-to-day life to offer guidance even when I didn't seek it
D is for dying as you lived, bravely and fighting till the end
E is for all the elephants, trunks up, displayed at the foot of your casket
F is for feeling like an I've lost my best friend and protector when I lost my mom
G is for grieving; how will I tell Jon his grandma is gone, and he didn't get a chance to say goodbye
H is for the heavy heart, but I know you were there as we were making the arrangements with Krowicki, did you have something to do with the lunch invitation
I is for ignoring your calls because I was too busy; I have time now
J is for just one more opportunity to pick up the phone and hear you ask me what I'm up to
K is for keeping your memory alive through poems and stories
L is for you being Jon's Luca Bratz, his protector. If that type of protection was good enough for the Godfather, it was good enough for your precious grandson.
M is for being the best mom you knew how to be. Too bad I didn't appreciate you till you were gone. Isn't that always the way
N is for never letting us go without. In the 1970s, when times were tough, you could always scrape together enough money for eggs and potatoes.
O is for opening your heart, and what a big heart it was
P is for preparing me for life, telling me a woman needs an education to make it in this world
Q is for teaching me to question; you brought home lessons on questioning authority as a shop steward at the electronic factory
R is for raising four daughters as a single parent, you were firm, but love was in the background
S is for saving your pennies in your car door for Jon to discover when you visited
T is for tough love; I believe you were one of the originators
U is for unconditional in every way. One of a kind, even though you were a twin
V is for the vision you had for your life and your daughter's lives
W is for your accepting that your two oldest daughters would marry men who were cousins and lived in Wisconsin. But two daughters were enough, her two younger daughters remained nearby in Jersey, and for that, you were grateful
X is for marking the point of impact you had on each life you touched
Y is for your legacy living on through your grandchildren and great-grandchildren
Z is for zoom too bad that wasn't around back in the 1990s; you would have loved it
Thank you for this post and its incredible poem. They are both full of so much of everything. I am very very glad you’ve got this month to reinvigorate and wish you the most loving, creative time which I am sure you’ll have. Some of the lines in the poem took my breath away - isn’t it magnificent on the complexities of pain and love?.
As in “Please, son, don’t visit me” And yet I visited and did not please, and he would not
Touch your leaf, afraid his rot would
Make the petals fall. A lovely love—
No, not at all.
Penny in Oxford, U.K.
thank you for this! i immediately sat down and wrote the letters A through Z down the side of a page in my journal ... then wrote all the words that came to me describing my illness (severe complex-ptsd as a result of over fifteen years of emotional abuse by four members of my family of origin) & my return to wellness (which after years of suffering the ravages of c-ptsd, while slowly gaining the fruits of good therapy to counter it, i am blessedly beginning to return to Life). i intend to take this & expand upon it, telling the story in abecedarian form of my journey from the kingdom of illness to the kingdom wellness. the simple act of writing the words that came to me was deeply healing. i look forward to having time to immerse myself in this prompt. from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Your good news is the best thing ever! I want more of that for you and I hope this little window you’ve been given is the start of more good things to come.
I recently found out I have three skin cancers, one melanoma and two basal cells. I’m reeling from the shock, but the melanoma was removed with clear margins, and the first basal cell was removed this past Thursday. I go back in two weeks for those results and to have the last one removed. I learned that the cumulative effects of blistering sunburns I was allowed to get as a child was the beginning of where I am today. The sun is not my friend.
Wow. What an insanely beautiful and heavy piece. Puts a lot in perspective. I need Ed to read this today.
This may be one of the most profound lines I’ve ever read:
F is for farther along we’ll understand why
Fire greets us at every door and we’ve lost our way
In the sky. Now where, where should we turn?
A is for Attempt - I will attempt to write to respond to this challenging prompt. A B C...etc.
sorry, 1st try had errors ......
all about him, is there a hymn to sing
but do I praise and/or
celebrate and/or search for more meaning or understanding
do I
envie him
fall and fall again for him
give to him all that he needs
hold him like he holds me and hope
The poem is exquisite perfectly timed or me as my husband falls, falls again...and again ...goes into the hospital for the third time in as many weeks, the step by step of the poem gave me some momentary sure footing…
This was an interesting one. Thanks.
Prompt 207.
“The alphabet, for Naima”, by Roger Reeves.
An abecedarian is a poetic form where the first letter of each line or stanza follows sequentially through the alphabet. In “The Alphabet, for Naima,” Reeves invokes this form to explore loss and legacy and to bridge time and space and generations.
After reading the poem, reflect on a pivotal moment—maybe loss, maybe new life—and use the abecedarian form to share that memory with a loved one. Allow the letters of the alphabet to take you where they will, to gather the varied strains of human experience into one resonant song.
A is for your Mother’s angelic smile as she comes to you.
B is for her beauty, inside and out.
C is for the comfort she gave to all of us, even strangers.
D is for death, her departure was premature.
E is for Eagle, whose quiet soaring reach symbolizes her Spirit.
F is for Fudge, as in Fudge It. Go away emptiness. Come back faith. Hers was strong.
G is for the gentle poetry she wrote, turning hard stories into beautiful lessons.
H is for her heavenly cooking.
I is for the illness that took her so quickly. Why? Why so soon?
J is the first letter of your name, which means “Praised by God”, and for the joy you bring.
K is for your father’s middle name which he hates because it’s his father’s name.
L is for the loneliness we all feel at times, because of the loss.
M is for the “Momma and Poppa Song”, Fields of Gold, by Sting. How could we forget the story behind this song?
N is for nurse – your Mom was a compassionate nurse.
O is for onion whose layers are like ours, each representing a dimension.
P is for pink peonies, one of your Mom’s favorites after lilacs.
Q is for quartet, our family of four, which is now three.
R is for the infinite road we are on. When will we get there? Will we realize our worth in the limit as the distance approaches infinity?
S is for the unfinished sewing projects. Waiting for completion. But, I don’t know how to sew.
T is for teacher. Your Mom was one.
U is for your Mom’s unbounded love. She felt her unchosen departure was unfair – her words: “This really sucks”.
V is for violet, the color of her favorite flower – the lilac.
W is for the wall between conscious worlds preventing us from realizing we are still connected.
X is for xylophone. Do you remember how much fun we had playing with yours? The bars were colored like a rainbow.
Y is for yellow – your Mom’s favorite color.
Z is for zucchini bread and the aroma of it baking. Your Mom made many loaves when the leaves fell.
Thrilled for you Suleika! The good news, the “leaving for the coast” with Jon and River, the poem shared with you. Love! Just love.
Wow says it all. Just wow! I’m so thrilled by your uplifting news.
Cuddle up dear friend
Debbie in LA