To Leave the Pain Behind
Her life was rich—
a husband who adored her
and a son whom she adored.
But she wanted more—
more love, more life,
more children to hold
and mold.
They both did,
for they were very much
in love.
Soon their passion
yielded more fruit—
another son.
This one was different.
He came too soon
and tore her.
The scream could not be quenched,
but only lasted for a moment,
for all the pain
was left behind
when she took him in her arms.
~ If only to leave the pain behind ~
She entered anew
into the joy of motherhood
as her heart swelled
to make room for two
little ones.
But this new little one,
as he grew,
found new ways to tear her.
Sometimes she screamed,
until she learned the screams
were what he wanted.
It took years of practice
to endure the ripping of her heart
with patience,
for he was relentless.
I hope you have a child just like you.
Her mother had said that to her.
Was this her wish come true?
Would she say it to her son too?
Or could she break the cycle
by believing in him?
Copyright © 2019 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved
Welcome to my series, Incremental Poetry, where each week the featured poem will be one line longer than the one I share the week before. I have no idea how long I’ll keep this up, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Thank you for stopping by.
Scansion:
Puente
Invented by James Rasmusson
Puente means “bridge” in Spanish.
Constructed in three stanzas.
1st and 3rd stanzas are separate thoughts, but share an equal number of lines. 2nd stanza is only one line, enclosed in tildes (~), and it forms the bridge between the other two.
Meter and rhyme are at the poet’s discretion; free verse is acceptable.
Title need not match the bridge.
Total length = 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, etc.
Dark Side of the Moon 