As you read this Christmas poem, with its taste of bittersweetness, see it not in a dark light — embrace it as a tale of a long-awaited journey, to be with the one beloved.
digital collage entitled: “Christmas Tear” – by: rob kistner © 2011
B rushed my shoulder on this morning’s train
then at the market it was there again
while in line to get my breakfast tea
from our favorite table it beckoned me
in the crowd at the festive mall
glimpsed like a flicker of candle light
I swear I saw it fleeting fall
upon the gifts I did not wrap this night
upon the tree I did not decorate
the greeting cards I did not write
in frail voice I chastise fate
singing carols doesn’t feel right
this season I see it everywhere
the shadow of your love
elusive as a shopper’s smile
caught up in the crush and shove
but soon I’ll catch and hold it close
warmly to my breast
it will sweetly fill my heart
lay soft with me this midnight rest
for it returns this night each year
the same night you went away
in dreams you kiss away each tear
touch my lips that beg you stay
taken from my life in sleep
gone without a last goodbye
as we dreamed at midnight deep
each year I weep and wonder why
but this year I’ll not awaken blue
in the end an easy thing to do
this night I’ll make our dreams come true
this midnight deep I will come to you
*
rob kistner © 2011
update by rob kistner © 2021
Poetry at: dVerse
This poem originally posted 2011: at Magpie Tales
you have such wonderful imagery. you always lure the reader in by the senses and place them in the moment! love that about your work. another fine piece! Thank you!
http://magicinthebackyard.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/keys-ethree/
Thank you so much Kellie, your words are most kind and much appreciated… 😉
oh my this is beautiful…and so very sad
Lovely and touching take on the prompt, Rob.
this was just great. the stain is my bane.
Beautiful, though I hope this bittersweet mood lifts from you and that your Christmas as as joyful as it should be.
Thank you Viv, it is nice to see you visit and share your thoughts from time to time… 😉 this melancholy seems not to lift altogether, perhaps I’ve entered my Poe-esque period…?
Sad….in a lovely way……….
this is beautifully penned rob and yes bitter sweat…perhaps his hope will one day be returned, you captured me though in his feelings…
Simply beautiful and touching 😉
Rob, this is very moving and poignant and resonates with any of us – read ALL of us – who have lost loved ones. Especially at this season.
Take good care of that heart of yours, kiddo.
Ah, so very beautiful! I love it. Filled me with emotion.
Beautifully written! I love every line is filled with emotion.
Rob, this is beyond beautiful ………
merry christmas man in case i dont pass through again before the holiday…have a great OLN as well…
This was very deep… shows much emotion and talent. Really enjoyed stopping by!
~L
Oh, wow. This is just gorgeous. I could picture every line in my mind so clearly. Your imagery is fantastic. =3
Tender and seasonal, indeed–and as we know, journeys end in lovers’ meetings. Enjoyed the softness of the regret in this.
heartfelt write… and I loved this part,
“this season I see it everywhere
the shadow of your love
elusive as a shopper’s smile
caught up in the crush and shove”
and that line about the shopper’s smile really stood out.. very clever… great, great writing
coming to the midnight blue and facing the pain and loss..sounds like a difficult but good thing to do rob…def. felt write
Many of us have lost loved ones
during the holidays. We lost my
father-in-law on Christmas Eve
8 years ago. Your poem reminds
us that the Big Lie, the Madison
Ave. pitches are mostly Hallmark
bullshit, and childish gibberish.
Yet, your poet’s heart keeps us
from morphing into grinchdom.
Your digital artwork is superb,
by the way; great image!
Rob, beautiful, bittersweet and heartfelt. Wishing a very happy holiday.
Pamela
btw; I miss Writer’s Island 🙂
Heart wrenching, beautiful and well written.
So deep and full of emotion and images, Rob! Excellent piece.
Wow, Rob- this is amazing!
http://lkkolp.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/the-gift-tag/
Dear Rob: This is a tearjerker! Wow! I hope that this dark night of the soul gets brighter! Love will make it so! Blessings to all ~ always!
Damn, I loved it in 2011, and I still do. Your digital artwork has graced so much of your poetry, your creative talent erupts everywhere. My Blackthorne poem was first posted in 2011 too, both on MAGPIE TALES and d’Verse. Great minds and kinship of souls, brother.
It was fascinating for me to unearth this piece today. I believe I only posted this on Tess’s site. We are “old soul” brothers my friend — but I am glad to still be here this Christmas season.
Lovely, Rob.
Thank you Xan!
Rob,
This poem speaks of love. How often a seasonal event can evoke a memory of someone no longer here, someone missed. Beautiful in many ways.
Thank you Ali…. 🙂
This is so beautiful and heartfelt, Rob. I love the sentiments of love and longing throughout. A wonderful write!
Thank you so much Dwight.
Can sad be so beautiful?
The heart wants what the heart wants, and if no innocents suffer, then pursuing love is pretty besutiful — no matter how unusual it may appear Reena. That is my perspective.
A love story punctuated with the small daily reminders and finalized with the other-worldly reuniting. Lovely.
Thank you Ron, very much… 🙂
Oh the melancholy is heartbreaking. The digital art gorgeous and my visit as always, never disappointed.
Much love…
Thank you Gillena, much love to you… 🙂
Oh what a gift that (actual) reunion would be…
You capture the distance and the longing perfectly, Rob/
Sorry I couldn’t be there to hear it. Maybe next year…
Thank you Ron! I actually read my spoken word performance piece entitled “Fragments Im Blue”. “This Night” was a piece from 10 years ago that I just happened to dig up. Had the right kind of bittersweetness to match my mood.
Gut-wrenchingly honest, and beautiful elegy: and you achieved it all in rhyme, with the meter sweeping us along in your wake to a “midnight deep,” alluding to the way she passed away in her sleep, “gone without a last goodbye.” May God comfort you, Rob, with His peace.
Pax,
Dora
Thank you Dora! But this piece is 10 years old, and the pain for the person that inspired it, that pain is now just sweet memories of a very close and private friend.
Beautiful rhythm, the tone and mood remind me a bit of W.H. Auden’s poetry, very nice…
Thank you very much Ain. I will have to check out Auden, I’m unfamiliar.
Rob, as I read this, I inject my own lost love into it. I hope it one day does come to pass for each of us who has such lost loves.
Time will tell — but it makes great inspiration for bittersweet love verse.
p.s. very neat digital image that I just noticed.
Thank you Lisa. It was a simple digital assemblage of three different pieces: the eye, the tear, the ornament. I felt it blended and worked well. 🙂
This is beautifully poignant, Rob! 🙂
Thank you Sanaa!
Oh, Rob – my heart is in bits after reading this! May you be reunited with your love when the time is right!
Death takes many forms Ingrid. Perhaps the most tragic and heart rending comes before there has been the chance to explore the possibilities of a full love — nearly impossible to resolve, because the one remaining is forever haunted by, if only.
So many conflicting emotions tied up in Xmas. The first line immediately grabbed me, as did the remarkable image–and the rest of the poem did not disappoint. Well done.
Thank you Judy… 🙂
I love what you dug out from your tressure chest… and also amazing to see all those poets, with some not around anymore…
Thank you Bjorn. I have published 6 different poetry blogs, spanning just over 20 years of online community. My very first was “From The Red Chair”, first published in 1999, and which carelessly I allowed to close. This poetry blog, “Image & Verse” is my second oldest, reaching back 17 years. In that stretch I have had 4 other poetry blogs that I’ve published, opening and becoming inactive: “Image & Verse Too”, “reflect”, “Writer’s Island”, and “Matinée Muse”. Those last two were sites, upon which I offered poetry and writing prompts internationally to the online writing community. I enjoy going back from time to time, reminiscing about the several hundred poets I have shared with — reading both their comments, and any of their poetry and writing still actively linked over the internet. It’s been a wonderful 2+ decade creative experience.
Bittersweet and beautiful, Rob, full of all the what might have beens.
I am pleased this touched you Merril.