A New Poem

 

The Gift

by Bob Stegner

Completed October 9, 2021

Warsaw Poland

 

A gift

Lay upon my lap

The packaging

Unfamiliar

And plain

I Shake it

Hold it up to the light,

Listen

It shares nothing

Not origin,

Nor the hand that made it

 

I rip it open

And stare

A humble, brown box

Emerges

With a small note

Saying,

“I love you!”

Nothing more

 

In a rush

Of emotion,

And wonder,

And longing

She returns

From months long past

 

Again, I sense

Her warmth

And remember

Her handwriting

A shapely, gracious hand

Her face,

Her eyes,

Her hair,

Her touch

 

I pick through the small trove

Of sensual memorabilia

Of overwhelming passion

Of love

Of laughter

Of moments,

I thought,

Depleted and buried

 

But now

We are born

Once more

Raised up from the very heart

Of her

In this last and final gift

Carrying loss,

An aching shard of pain,

And the final whispers of a love,

Broken and fading

Into the remnants

And vastness

Of time

Copyright © Bob Stegner 2021