by Matt Markley | Feb 9, 2023 | Poetry
Jaxy loved animals. All animals, large or small, young or old, healthy or unwell. And they loved Jax too. This is a poem that draws from a few of Jax’s personal stories with animals, shaped by the ancient poetic form of dactylic hexameter. It’s unusual in form and meter for something modern, but I think it just makes it feel more special. I hope you enjoy it! <3
– – –
Curious animals follow and lovingly decorate your wake
You are the magnet as canines come running, with all wags and grinning
Felines familiar and strange, finding fingertip followed by cradle
Ladybugs landing on eyeglass rims, feeling the kindness of your face
Sea turtles paddling, intrigued by your aura of joy and belonging
Lizard emerges for warmth, seeking refuge in your caring presence
Duckling abandoned by mother but trusting your tenderly kind eyes
Bright colored birds flock to join you in kindred roost, tribe of the rainbow
It never mattered to you how they looked, but if needed or wanted you were there
Life can be so unfair taking a way so much more than it gives us
You lead with love and with caring and joy and you got what you gave them
Sometimes we people forget how the way you live matters but not them
Animals understand where to find nurturing spirits among us
You are the one they found so many times, empathy sought out and given
by Matt Markley | Feb 3, 2023 | Poetry
Feeling the loss of someone so integral to your life and well-being makes you stop and think about things. Like life, death, time and where we all fit in this endless, exquisite and sometimes brutally unfair universe. In the end, we come to realize that very little matters, except for the gifts of love, compassion and presence we give each other. Not what we accumulate, but what we spread around. Not what we take with us, but what we leave behind.
This is for you, my dearest Jax.
– – –
I am stardust, born of supernovae
Scattered about the universe
Briefly coalescing
For but a time
I am the rainbow, shaped from falling mist
Fragile and also powerful
Longing and belonging
Chased by sunset
I am the messenger in the bottle
Carried by mercurial tide
Eternally for now
Like written word
I am the shore, the ground beneath your feet
Together we press and we move
Until erosion’s toll
Sweeps me away
I am the me you see for but a time
As all of us, temporary
Chance clusters of atoms
Adrift in dream
by Matt Markley | Jan 24, 2023 | Poetry
The following is a poem I wrote about the struggle to heal in the face of insurmountable grief. In short, there are no shortcuts. But in the same sense that loss is payment for the love we feel, love is also ultimately a source of healing from loss.
– – –
Yesterday I saw a picture of you
As I crossed the hallway
With a shattered heart and a tear in my eye
On may way to another dreary day
The other day I saw it too
Walking that well worn path
Into the fray of another dull day
With slow blink and nihilistic sigh I made my way
And further still I look back too
Stopping at the sight of you
Beating back tears and invasive thoughts
Why must this be? Why must it be you?
Fast forward many, many days
My heart frozen, guarded, numb in a way
Unseen but felt, a gradual thaw begins
Memories melting the cold, dull gray
Ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly
In future days, when I pass this place
The warmth of your smile and a million moments
That can never ever be taken away
Repaint my world in a brighter shade of gray
I cling to hope that a time will come
The tears we shed will capitulate
To the vibrant glow of your big box of paint
Indelible color carrying the day
You were, and are, and will always be
An indestructable part of me
Though the hole in my soul will never go away
I’ll do my best to fill it up
With brighter shades of gray
