A crease in the sheets
Looked just like your feet,
But I knew you had left.
So I straightened the bed.
Half-hoping to find
You were lying inside.
I imagined you’d say
That you’d got off the plane,
You’d decided to stay.
Or that maybe, you’d say
That you’d had to return;
Or that someone had learned
That you shouldn’t have gone.
But my image was wrong.
It was only the sheets.
It wasn’t your feet.
- Written by Anna Williams at age 32
October 16th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
this is very nice. The beginning is especially strong… the act of flattening out the sheets is very symbolic
October 17th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Thank you. Its really the first poem I wrote in years. True story, too!
October 20th, 2007 at 5:16 am
A moving piece on the theme of ‘absence’. I liked the double meaning in the last line of the first stanza: “you were lying inside”.
I empathize. Do write more, and be blessed. Cheers.
October 20th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Thanks very much for the feedback. I have to credit you with the double meaning. I hadn’t thought of it.
I imagine this poem could mean many things … in this case the absence is not due to discord but due to necessities … “business trips.”
But its true it can also be the other kind of absence and in that case there is a definite double meaning.
October 20th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Hi, I just got your comment, and wow! you just lifted my spirits.
I was going through your blog, and believe me I liked all of them so much. Especially this one.
@Brian
You are right Brian, the act of flattening sheets add an extra element of sadness to all of this
Soham Das
The Soul and The Witness
October 20th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Yeah, well it was sad. I was crying my eyes out!
Thanks everybody.
October 20th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Anna, thank’s for stopping by my blog. I enjoyed this one. At first I thought that is was funny, but by the end I felt the sadness. You should really write more!
After reading your explenation above it had even more meaning to me. My wife leaves often due to work and I know the sadness so well. It never ends.
Please visit again.
A.
October 25th, 2007 at 11:54 am
This poem is bittersweet; it’s cute first lines slowly accumulate into sadness and longing. I can relate to this emotionally.
October 27th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Been there… You capture the moment perfectly, it makes me return to a time and place I would prefer not to perhaps. But I can feel those sheets again and the pang of absence. Beautiful.
July 15th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Anna very very nice!! Now I understand your comment better. An empty bed is truly sad… Thank you again