The Morning I Didn't Wake Up

[Doreen Peri]

The morning I didn't wake up,
a young lady celebrated her
21st birthday at Squire Tavern
walking distance from her home,
a couple who had been married
50 years enjoyed coffee on the veranda
overlooking the Pacific ocean and traded
anniversary cards with hand-drawn
hearts in the margins, another two
who somehow knew they'd make perfect
partners tied the knot at a rather small
ceremony in Austin, CNN announced
that the US government was considering
air strikes against an enemy with a new
name but in a similar location, a healthy
baby boy was born in the backseat of a cab
on the way to St. Barnabas Hospital, over
a thousand homes on the Big Island
experienced a power outage due to high winds,
900 people in the UK were diagnosed with cancer.

It was a sunny spring day with barely a hint of wind
in my hometown. Jonquils and hyacinth flourished
in the garden bed. My daughter made arrangements.

[saw]

i really love this....the poem expands my mind, gives examples of how all the energy in the universe is being dispersed.....and it's a very personally-special-day that sets the wheels in motion....like reading all the news of the world in a newspaper as everything collides to mark time forever....a keeper

[Doreen Peri]

Thanks, Steve. Not one of my usual styles. A list poem. I must have rewritten the 2nd stanza 5 or 6 times until I finally got the pun of "arrangements" with "arrangements" (as in flowers vs. funeral... but both tie together). I'm still not sure whether it works to relay death. Anyway, that's what I was examining. As depressing as death can be, I may write a series of poems which deal with mortality in order to explore it further. I'll have to throw some funny ones in the series so I don't keel over and die from exploring the topic. Haha...

I really like what you said about energy dispersing!

[68degrees]

I love list poems. They're almost written like a code and it's fun to break them down and see if one can make sense of the connections.

The randomness of this and the way all items are almost relationship orientated is cool. They're all different but could span a single life. In a way, it reminds me of the 7 Stages of Life poem.

68degrees

[judih]

a beautiful celebration of the daily wows and non-wows of life. Even in death, we mark each occasion.
well-done, D!

[Doreen Peri]

Thanks 68... i'm not familiar with the 7 Stages of Life poem... or else I don't remember it right now.. but I'm glad you liked this. Once I wrote a list poem (i thought i made the name up .. "list poem".. not sure if it's a genre or not) but anyway once I wrote a list poem that was an actual shopping list but some of the things on the list implied a murder might be taking place. That was a great deal of fun to write! Now that I've posted this spoiler, I guess I won't repost the poem.

Judih... thanks very much.... I was thinking I could have just simply written:
"The day I'm gone, life goes on"