Theresa's Remembrance Poem by Daniel Brick
Theresa's Remembrance
The October afternoon was cold
and rain-soaked, sixteen years
ago, when the news was delivered.
Roberto, our postman then, got on
his bicycle and pedaled over
to my house despite the bad weather.
He needed to hand me the telegram.
You know, he and Antonio were best
friends, from childhood. Oh, why
do some men love the sea? Roberto
doesn't, but my Antonio, he said it
himself, 'After you and our children,
it is the sea that I live for.' And
the doom of that day in October,
you never forget these things:
Roberto's coming, the heavy aspect
of his eyes, the utterly empty
gray sky, and the distant moan
of the sea. I stood in the doorway,
holding but not reading the telegram.
Later, he held me as I sobbed, and
when the children came home, he told
them. His kindness was a blessing,
wasn't it?
Why do some men so love the sea?
Antonio would grow restless as
his furlough came to its end,
he'd fuss over details of the cargo,
check the nautical maps, and
in his eyes there was that look
of men who see beyond what the rest
of us can't even imagine... When
he was gone, I took the children
down to the beach, with the surf
crashing against the shore rocks.
And they would shout in their
small voices, 'Papa, Papa, come
home, we want you! ' And you know,
he always did, season after season,
until his jealous lover claimed him
as her own. But the children only
had the most precious memories of him.
They always felt his presence in some
way, as I still do, all these years
later. Yes, despite that lure of
the sea, we were his first love.
What an amazing memory is shared here definitely. Sadness is still wisely painted in this tale of imagery and this speaks about October afternoon. Remaining in first love with penance is memorable....10
Children's souls don't know what a loss is. only time makes our minds succumb to loss almost immediately. ant it dulls the true feeling of further existance.
What you say is sadly true. I remember reading FReud claimed he could only heal hysterical misery but what he called the common sadness of being human we must learn to live with.
So... The story from the female viewpoint and written in a different style. I'm sensing a novel here with a mixed media approach... Poetry and prose. :) Not sure. It's interesting and fun to watch your work develop. You have a very compelling story here. In fact, it's kind of a page turner. I want to retread all the pieces (so far? !) together. Your focus on the sea vs. the port is interesting too... And the children!
I like your idea of a book combining prose and poetry, I've enjoyed Basho's travel books which combine haiku and prose. When I first read Huenun's book in 2007 thereabouts, I wasn't writing my own poems yet, but I wanted to do so with his model as a guide. Well, with THERESA'S REMEMBRANCE I just reached 150 poems. With gratitude to the Muse who appears in many different forms!
I already answered your question in a message but I remember now an Irish play RIDERS TO THE SEA by John Synge about the families waiting for them to return and of course will wait forever for a son or husband or father who will never return. I remember being very moved by Synge's play in college and remembered it when I first started writing this poem. And Synge's play is based n many, many true stories of list sailors and their bereft families.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/10/2024 7:33:36 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Extremely poignant and well rounded tragic narrative. Like in a film we see the scene, magically and sentimentally developing. We hear and see the characters, as if they were before us, totally present. We capture the love and the pain produced by the Sea. You have created a true masterpiece of emotional and narrative poetry! So well done.!
Thanks for putting my poem in the context of TRAGIC NARRATIVE. I believe in tragedy which is one of the great creations of western literature. At the very beginning of tragedy Aeschylus defined it in one of his plays: Through suffering a human being grows wise. Both Theresa and her children learn that hard truth. I'm confident this is NOT the only way we learn. Joy and pleasure also promote wisdom, don't you think? I have another poem to write now!