none can pass
his grief makes certain none will try
this is a dark forbidden place
high-walled
cold and barren
unyielding
lifeless
brutal night has fallen
no sun can penetrate
the darkness soothes him
he retreats into its depths
hiding
shielded from any further pain
but see
a shadow falls across the threshold
someone approaches
a comely being
warm and alive
lays gentle siege
threatening to breach his hardened fortress
but this lovely creature
fair and fragile
can not possibly gain entrance
must not
he will resist
this is wrong
this is trespass
this is cruel betrayal of his lost beloved
he has no right to leave this place of sorrow
no right
but his stronghold is succumbing
falling to this delicate advance
he is vulnerable
confused
but it is useless to resist
searching with a patient heart
she has found the key
grasped in her loving hand
fingers tenderly enfold it
gently
she slides it into the lock
turning with great care
he is defenseless
he feels his heart slowly open
the long forgotten stir of love
begins to warm his soul
DAY 12
This is delightful, love can do miracles, dissolve the hardness that held for so long. Thank you Rob.
Thank you Hélène! 🙂
This was so full of promise… and with such a key any lock can be picked I think.. 🙂
Love and persistance will overcome pain and fear most every time Björn, as I see it.
A heart locked with grief and pain is hard pick open, Rob. You have conveyed it well with effective vocabulary: cold, barren, brutal and unyielding. I’m so glad that someone found the key.
There is usally domeone who can find the right key for the right heart – I am drawn to believe that Kim… 🙂
Where there is hope .. there is possibility 🙂 Lovely write!
Thank you Sanaa! Hope and commitment… 🙂
The cold comfort of dark grief, then the giving way of gentle light. So beautifully conveyed, Rob.
Thank you Jade, I appreciate your kind words… 🙂
I had three marriages, with a 7 year bachelor gap between them. This lovely poem resonates well with me. Twice the key has been found and used effectively. But the last time, 27 years ago, the key was golden.
I did the walk 3 times also Glenn. 4 years between 1 and 2, then 9 years until 3 – which has lasted 30 years in May. I was older than each of them, and married each of them when they were in their 20’s. First two were 23 when I married them. My third was 23 when I met her, I was 40 – but we didn’t marry her until she was 27. Guess I had a thing for 23-year-old women…? 😉
How beautifully descriptive of a heart unfolding once more after the deep wound of loss and grief. Unfortunately for me, the charmer who found the key proved to have feet of clay. For years thereafter my garden wall was graced with a verdigris frog I dubbed Prince, Formerly Known as Frog.
Glad this resonated for you Bev! Don’t know if there is a cure for clay feet? “…a verdigris frog I dubbed Prince, Formerly Known as Frog.” LOL 😉
Love will overcome …
Yes, VJ, if it is real…!
When the keyholder is the right person, our hearts can open and learn to love again. Love the warming of the soul.
Glad you liked this Grace! Takes time to know if someone is the right one – sometimes it’s after it’s too late…
Very sweet, well done.
Thank you L… 🙂
This is beautiful Rob! You have detailed so well the journey from sorrow and grief to joy and restoration. The place where joy and sorrow meet!
Thank you Dwight! I think, after enough time, we have all been touched by that experience – one way or another.
I like the description of resistance to love.
It can be unsettling to commit Frank, once you’ve been hurt.
She held the right key to open your heart once again.
Always requires the right hand on the key Truedessa… 🙂
It’s often hard to make no become yes. Love is a mystery.
An amazing mystery Kerfe, and not always easy.
I like the image of “love laying a gentle siege” and the gentle and hopeful ending.
Thank you Oloriel, iI am pleased this resonated for you… 🙂
We are meant to love.
Well done, Rob.
Thank you Ken, and Yes, I also believd that we humans are meant to love – even in spite of horrid public examples that some people appear to thrive on hatred.
This expresses both the deep pain of loss but also the hope in the future. My mom was a WWII widow when I was only a baby, remarried 7 years later. Her mantra was: “The heart always has room for more love.”
Your mom was absolutely correct Victoria! 🙂
Sorry, I’m so behind on reading!
A lovely metaphor, Rob–love the key to unlocking a grief-locked heart.
Thank uou Merril! 🙂
The right key will fit the lock. Sometimes we hold our grief too close for too long. Beautiful poem.
Thank you Mary! 🙂
Heartfelt and sweet. I love it.
Thank you Charlotte! 🙂
Now that’s a satisfying sequence of events. Love can do many things.
Love is like duct tape Kerfe, it can hold anything together, and repair things that are broken… 🙂
A lovely metaphor Rob for finding that one person who fits. There’s always someone there who has the key. Happy not to have missed reading this.
Thank you Smitha. I am pleased this resonated for you… 🙂