Poetry Sunday: This Is How It Will Be by Barbara Quick

Today is my husband's and my wedding anniversary. I won't say which one; no need to age us any more than necessary, but where did all those years go? It seems like only yesterday...

A friend of mine died last week. He and his wife had been together for sixty years. Sixty years! My husband and I are not quite there yet but we have a couple of legs up on it. 

All of this was on my mind when I read this poem last week. It always surprises me how just the right poem seems to find me to express what I'm thinking.

This Is How It Will Be

by Barbara Quick

You’d already said goodbye,
but I wasn’t sure you were already gone.

Emerging from the bathroom, I called your name,
wanting to know if you’d read the news item
about the two women who got lost in the woods,
then were rescued and driven to their car,
then drove their car down a boat ramp in the fog,
at the bottom of a dead-end road—
and drowned.

“Honey?” I called, realizing
I was alone in the house.
Realizing that this is how it’ll be,
for one or the other of us, someday:
Something that wants to be shared
will be unheard.

Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,June 27, 2021 at 4:48 AM

    It is so true, isn't it? I have friends who are already in that position and it is a simple fact that it will happen to all of us. It will be hard to cope with in many ways, I am sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJune 27, 2021 at 8:29 AM

      It is a morbid thought perhaps, but when we see our friends confronting this challenge and sorrow, it certainly gives us pause.

      Delete
  2. AlanaJune 27, 2021 at 1:20 PM

    Several people I know are already widowed so I've seen the public part of the coming attractions. It's the private parts when that person is alone that I haven't seen and can't fully imagine or prepare for. I know it will come for one of us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJune 27, 2021 at 2:27 PM

      It's that private part that would be the hardest, I think.

      Delete
  3. mudpuddleJune 27, 2021 at 3:10 PM

    Happy Anniversary! not easy, sometimes... marriage, that is...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJune 27, 2021 at 3:12 PM

      True. But the good ones are worth the effort. Ours is definitely worth it.

      Delete
  4. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzJune 29, 2021 at 11:07 AM

    We have a friend who died a couple of weeks ago, leaving his wife a widow. It has been very difficult for his wife to adjust to the quiet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJune 29, 2021 at 12:29 PM

      When our friends face such sorrow, it is difficult to know how to help. Maybe there isn't any way to help other than just being there.

      Delete
  5. Barbara QuickJanuary 13, 2022 at 12:50 PM

    Wow, I never saw this! I'm so glad my poem found you. Coming right up (this May), my fourth novel, WHAT DISAPPEARS (available for pre-order now from Regal House): https://www.regalhousepublishing.com/product/what-disappears/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJanuary 13, 2022 at 1:15 PM

      I'm glad the poem found me as well. Thank you for the comment.

      Delete

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