Bouleversant
The Art of Melting
written & performed by: Gerry Stefanson
melting, our daughter asked us when a toddler
is that what death is
now, that here today gone tomorrow approach
resonates louder then most responses.
she is now a mother
and the questions will come
melting, now in my life
makes more sense.
then most explanations,
rationalization and holy stuff
grasping this concept
is somehow freeing?
this I can visualize, even the tactile
slipping away, yet still in a presence
though a dozen years plus, later
after being seasoned a bit more to death
or so we thought
she, us, we and I
lost her brother
in a way maybe misplaced him
but he melted
and melted does not come back
now, miles down that road
I think of the melted I’ve known
family, friends, neighbors
casual acquaintances
all those loved ones
now my always and ever so smart daughter
will engage her daughter and they too
will discuss melting
I trust all the pros and cons
the trek of grief, hope and future
I know others who will melt
sadly before their time
at their time and maybe past
their best before date.
then one day I will melt
then I may learn the answer to her question.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
rolling back the clock here,
we lost a kitten and had to explain it to our
three year old daughter
(in retrospect, we handled poorly)
she compared death to a melting like an icicle
this led to this poem, then this series.
- So Far - February 8, 2025
- A Clear Starlit Night Under a Blanket of Snow - January 7, 2025
- 666 Alverstone Ave. - November 1, 2024