you with such profound presence have surely gone
an imprint of invisibility remains at large
a vacancy so vivid, so self-evident
it has punched the air 
did you leave that way, one fisted,
one hand waving free?*

mimicking the gap, my mouth agape
memories a broken mosaic, missing parts
stories told so many times the lines jumble
with ballads that fifties folk once passed around
some scenes still freshly painted as a warm September
martin and swallow swarms at the brink of the sea
scything late-hatched insects that cloud our heads 

We circled with the birds, dizzied by dashing displays
and in those spellbound moments, your soul migrated
returning home was almost aftermath,  a brief touch down
before you found your way - I'm  making headway now
through the hole, a crawl to the other side of beyond
- of course, I'll mind the gap

21 thoughts on “mind the gap”

1. This is very beautiful. Such imagery.

   1. thank you Jude -some memories still so very visual

2. I agree with Heyjude – beautiful writing. Making headway is a good thing!

   1. yes it is time I too left – thank you for your appreciation mary

3. There is such deep and intense emotion in this poem that is palpable and compels the reader to feel with the depths of his soul! I clutched my heart at; “mimicking the gap, my mouth agape memories a broken mosaic,”.. sending love and light your way, Laura 💜💜

   1. receiving them loud and clear with thanks Sanaa

4. The thought of a gap is something that works so well… I can feel an inner turmoil projected against a backdrop of nature… maybe seeing it might close some gaps

   1. About to see it as I make my move this week

5. Terrific imagery of the last journey…
   did you leave that way, one fisted,
   one hand waving free?… beautiful writing!

   1. Thank you

6. I like the way you have taken an everyday phrase familiar to Londoners and given it a new meaning, Laura. ‘Mind the gap’ can be a warning or a gentle reminder, so the title seemed ambiguous until I had read and digested the whole poem, especially the lines:
   ‘an imprint of invisibility remains at large
   a vacancy so vivid, so self-evident
   it has punched the air’.
   The final stanza is especially moving and I appreciate the wordplay in:
   ‘… a brief touch down
   before you found your way – I’m making headway now
   through the hole…’
   Is this really your last poem? I hope not. Much love x

   1. Just last poem as I leave London and hence will mind the gap Kim

      1. 🙂

7. loved the lovely and intense imagery here.
   i feel like i have been crawling around in a hole lately, and i can relate to this. 🙂

   1. Looking for a way out and now have found it

8. a vacancy so vivid… it punches the air. – and you are on a similar journey? Last poem… until ?

   Awesome writing.

   1. Until I settle in new home and get connected

9. Startling images – and yet so right. All the very best for your journeying and new locale.

   1. thank you Rosemary – a pilgrim soul finding her way alone

10. Are you remembering the day when you wrote – something like – an achievement to walk the prom – which was mystifying when I read it. But made sadly clear in your following posts.

    1. almost Diana – a walk we made to Pegwell Bay – yes an achievement too and mesmerised by migrating swallows

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