These are two poems about two powerful and indelible life-moments I shared with my son Justin.
The first “Night Sky” is about the courageous moment he chose, at age fourteen, to leave his mother’s home to move across our country, to live with me in Oregon — through the years of his high school and college graduations, and his early career. This was an incredible gift he gave me.
The second, “Book of Days”, is about the moment, two days ago, when he and his wife Christine, moved from Oregon to pursue a career advancement — a deeply bittersweet moment for me.
•
you arrived in spring
asking why I’d left
I had no good response
but the other shoe had fallen
with a deafening thud
so what was I to do
you looked startled by life
and asked me about sorrow
I had no good response
so I took you in
and watched as you untangled truth
marveling at your balance
for 19 years
together we watched the night sky
and wondered about love
• • •
rob kistner © 2011
•
in the book of days
clearly it is written
your time for moving on
beyond the reach of yesterday
in this book of days
so too is it written
clearly mine grow short
my grasp loosens on tomorrow
our miles apart grow greater
our time together lessens
as you pursue the future
I slip further in the past
and per the book of days
this is the way of nature
the son becomes the father
the father bows away
yet stands this father’s dream
would that this space between
but vanish with this pain
of bittersweet farewell
that the book somehow rewritten
would bend both time and space
and my days once more
stretch full to your horizon
• • •
rob kistner © 2011
nice…i really like the second one rob…the use of the son in it…i have two and know that one day our paths will diverge and imagine myself feeling all the same…
Knowing the background opens these poems out in a way different from my first reading of them. Yet they maintain what is their essential subject: love.
Lovely writes, Rob.
Thank you, and yes Maureen, when the precise context is not provided, these pieces read as broad as the reader’s interpretation — and intentionally so written… I have also published them individually on my blog without the detailed context…
you arrived in spring
asking why I’d left… i like the arriving in spring as an image and sad when one arrives and the other has already left..wondering about love…hmm
thanks for these two personal pieces… they’re both lovely, filled with emotion, & greatly told
hey rob
some fine poetry here
‘stretch full to your horizon’
such a searching line
thanks for sharing
regards
I found a subtle, & gentle inter-flow between the two poems, lovely soft atmosphere in both, if you can understanf that, a balance between what is said & what is not said, pitched just right..
Lovely pieces. Have grappled with such issues myself. Told my son, “i divorced your mother, but I never intended to divorce you” and stayed nearby for years, seeing him every weekend. It was an awkward, painful time. When he was older, I tried to apologize and he told me, “I forgave you when I was 10.” In the old stories it is the son who is the prodigal. In the modern version it is we, the fathers who have departed. For the next six weeks my son is on the road throughout the U.S. and Canada with his metal band on a tour in pursuit of the future. But at least he has promised to return. Thank you for these!
our miles apart grow greater
our time together lessens
as you pursue the future
I slip further in the past
… this reminded me of the deepenign distance between my dad and me.
Nice, Rob. It’s hard…I know. When my son went off to college I was so sad because he was so far away…but I knew then that he has to follow his dream. I wish your son success and I hope things get easier for you.
Two lovely poems Rob. Night Sky stood out to me, particularly the lines “I had no good response… so I took you in”, for me evincing a rather sharp pain that is then smoothly carried away. I like the sentiment at the end of Book of Days. If only things could be rewritten. Two good writes.
Rob- Both powerful, but I can really feel your emotions in the second one… what a wonderful father you are!
Thanks to today’s advancement in technology you can still visit with your son face-to-face (although I know it’s not the same).
There is a great gift shared in your words. I especially like how you ended the second poem. Well done.
For 19 yeas, we watched the night sky… and wondered about love…. perfect ending to a lovely verse that has its beautiful moments like…
‘you looked startled by life
and asked me about sorrow’
I enjoyed the second one too, but the first one is more closer to my heart…
Shashi
ॠनमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/11/whispers-fire-faayar-faayaar-dedicated.html
So clear yet so profound. To evoke so much emotion through so few words is truly a gift not many can boast of, and surely you are one of them, Rob. Pleasure reading your pieces, and I’m sure you have only been fulfilled in your journey through the ‘Book of Days’.
Titus
love the opening, very deep thinking,
the imagery is fully packed with wonders, questions, and nature…
enjoyed your style.
😉
Rob, I especially liked how the father did BOW away but did not BLOW away like so much dust, to be displaced.
You and your son have had a wonderful gift – each other. I know that when my only, Riley, moved from NYS to California by herself, I had these trepidations but also great memories and a reminder to myself: I’m still standing, and Lex and I will always have room in our house if she ever needs it.
Lovely, made me cry a bit – for happy. Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/pastor-hellevangelist/
They’re beautiful!