perhaps a place
at the holy hem of heaven
commends itself to the noble

souls who've tiptoed gracefully
past the temptations of the telluric realm
- certainly there is a limbo

here at the edge of all movement 
a stifling halfway house, iron-girded
by grief, faint-heart, and where the despairing

insiders look on, always seeing out
though vision is broken by mottled glass
and water drops decanting heavily

when mists descend, decision clouds
handkerchiefs in hand we wipe
the panes, our eyes and wave away

the hours it takes to break down
doors, through to the other side of heartache

40 thoughts on “Borderline”

1. you describe grief so well …

   1. it is one of the emotions that holds us back until we can let go a little

      1. that’s so true and we need to learn to express it in a healthy manner …

         1. indeed!

2. I really love that thought of mottled glass… to be there and not really see anything beyond… there is a sense of a waiting at a train station for a train that never comes…

   1. thanks Bjorn – a good analogy as in limbo we really are not ready to go anywhere

3. ..and once through, to lay there, exhausted, without energy to see where there is. You’ve created a palpable limbo, Laura, with your words.

   1. thank you – it is a familiar place – I’ve been here before and I expect will return to again 😉

4. There’s hope in both places though. Noble souls have the hope they’ll be prayed out of Limbo, and grief passes. I like the grimy window pane image too.

   1. Grimy window seemed a good metaphor! yes for sure – hope is there even in Pandora’s box.

      1. 🙂

5. Purgatory and limbo and Hell–poppycock. I vote for Bardo and life-between-lives.

   1. have you read the Tibetan Book of the Dead?

6. Sounds about right. Lovely. And the photo pairs so well. Thank you.

   1. and thank you Nathan!

7. Always standing on the border, an outsider looking in. I like this, especially your vivid descriptions of the “borderline” and what happens there.

   1. yes sometimes life takes us to the borderlands

8. I like the description of limbo as the “holy hem of heaven”.

   1. had only just read that ‘limbo’ is translated as border or hem!

9. I often wonder how it’s possible to fit limbo and purgatory into the “God is love” philosophy.

   1. it’s called tough love I think

10. A powerful, well written expression Laura, of a traditional view of limbo, still embraced by some.

    1. I have no knowledge of that place only this one here in the telluric realm

11. Very nicely done! I liked the line of breaking the doors down to get to the other side!

    1. thank you – there is only so much time we can spend in limbo

12. Vivid description of that limbo. Who is looking in/out and wanting to get in/out? I specially love this part:
    a stifling halfway house, iron-girded
    by grief, faint-heart, and where the despairing

    insiders look on

    1. thank you Grace – and it’s where we cry “stop the world I want to get off”

13. Dear Laura, your photography and poetry are ascending to new heights. The combination is beautiful here, well done.

    1. high and heart warming praise from you indeed Sherwood – blessings!

14. Oh, Laura, sometimes I really fangirl over your poems. This is such a great combination of emotion and exact analysis. It’s one I wish I’d written.

    1. well its mutual fangirl – yours as the poems I would like to write

15. very cinema, Laura – visual and palpable. thanks for adding your voice ~

    1. And Thank you for a provoking prompt

16. Beautifully written, Laura. The border of grief and breaking through it.
    I liked how these lines: ” though vision is broken by mottled glass
    and water drops decanting heavily” work in so many ways. The window–a mirror of the soul–or a face–the rain, the tears? Finely crafted poem.

    1. thank you for exploring the allusions Merril and for your kind words

       1. You’re welcome.

17. oh, my! this is so packed with emotion

    1. a lot goes on in limbo! thank you Candace

18. You’ve distilled grief in your words, Laura, and given it a name, which I think is most fitting – it’s just how I felt – still feel some of the time. The phrase ‘holy hem of heaven’ is effective and I love the lines:
    ‘…vision is broken by mottled glass
    and water drops decanting heavily’.

    1. am glad it registers with you Kim as it is something to be shared and not just internalised as we come back out of limbo

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