Sometimes Mercy, Sometimes Grace
Skyrocket to Heaven
Photo By: Flickr/Eddi van W.
I awoke and realized
the poem I dreamed was a prayer.
Springtime love was my mother
singing as she made my father
a meatloaf sandwich. I
gave her a dandelion blossom
plucked from its stem. The yellow sun
bloomed on for years.
Seasons passed, and falling leaves
called my boys from Big Wheels to
manhood. While braving the cold
to enjoy a sunset, I understood what is true:
Living with hope is a pre-winter dream,
a skyrocket to heaven through a galaxy
of worn-down stars.
In pockets of memory I entertain
queasy shadows, uncertain longings.
Who knows the depths of my pain,
the height of my ecstasy, how I claimed
the damage, rebuilt and reclaimed
that which is mine? Sometimes
misunderstanding veils sweetness,
and so much hinges on the overriding
miracle of finding grace everywhere.
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About the Author
A former English teacher, Helen Losse is the author of ten collections of poetry, including A Flower More Enduring (Main Street Rag, 2021). Her poems have been anthologized in Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VII: North Carolina, and Kakalak 2014, nominated for a Pushcart Prize and for a Best of the Net award. She is Poetry Editor Emeritus for The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and a former Associate Poetry Editor for Kentucky Review. She is married and has two grown sons. A Christian her entire life, Helen entered the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday in 2015 to grow closer to Jesus.
Social Media links:
Blog: Windows Toward the World https://helenl.wordpress.com/
FB: https: https://www.facebook.com/HelenLosse/
MSR Bookstore: https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product-tag/helen-losse/
