Some see it as a bad sign
when the old begin 
giving away their things
they say we are rehearsing for death
to go dispossessed
into darkness
- the way we came in

Maybe it's just lightening the load
like a readying caddisfly nymph
junking accretions of exoskeleton;
those small treasures from the ones 
already gone along the lineage of kin
or some dust-gathering stuff
that others might find shine in

My bequest will be all I've achieved;
some precious things perceived
a rich repository of uncertainty
that ultimate belief in mystery

but who has upturned palms to receive
all these unsubstantials that I'll leave?

30 thoughts on “No takers”

1. Giving to the ones who appreciate it also leaves less of a mess for those coming after to try to salvage… I wish my mother had done it.

   1. I’m sure she left you some unsubstantials too

2. What a great simile, Laura, in the lines:

   ‘It’s really just lightening the load

   like a readying caddisfly nymph

   junking accretions of exoskeleton’.

   I find decluttering really liberating, especially clothes. Books are another matter!

   1. that image of caddisfly nymph is a potent one for me – thank you Kim

3. Oh, this is so good, Laura. And that image of the caddisfly nymph–a startling, unique image. And that final line is so wonderful! Yes.

   1. thank you Merrill – I enjoyed writing this and your prompt got my rusty ballpen rolling again

      1. You’re welcome, Laura, and I’m so pleased you liked the prompt!

4. I love giving things away. Less is more.

   1. indeed

5. I enjoyed the rhyme choices in this poem, especially death and dispossessed, and uncertainty and mystery. The use of the caddisfly nymph was fun. I learned about them when I was writing a short story about a lake spirit.

   1. I don’t normally aim to rhyme but sometimes they emerge and then I go with them – thank you for noticing Maria

6. I loved the line about it just being lightening the load, especially when contrasted to the ending of the previous stanza.

   1. thank you Astrid for your appreciation

7. Yes, this is an interesting one. We discuss this quite often as we have no children. It’s the little things that are not valuable in a monetary way, but mean something to me, that are causing the most questions. Hopefully not to worry about for a long time yet, but still.

   1. ever ready is how we should surely be! 😉

8. All those material things get very heavy. The things that take up no physical space are the important ones. (K)

   1. thanks for grasping the epitome of the poem Kerfe

9. So, what can I give to you?

   Just what to do with all this stuff. Not that I have much. But then quantity doesn’t determine appreciation, does it. I’ve given up many things (furnishings of a sort), but what about a life? Who wants that?

   And yes, that’s a little more to the point, what’s most best given away is the intangible of the heart and spirit. Who will be the real or figurative child of our life?

   1. we give out – it is up to the takers to receive

10. A wonderful poem. I liked the idea of lightening the load. That is exactly what it is. We call it downsizing.

    1. many thanks Dwight

       1. You are welcome Laura.

11. I like the idea of unsubstantials and indeed no age is to young to start dishing them out…

    1. or too young to receive them 😉

12. Great poem.

    1. I appreciate your appreciation

13. Well written Laura.

    1. thanks Rob

14. Lightening the load makes me feel better. Weight off the shoulders.

15. I guess it’s my stage of life, but this is right where I am, and lightening the load speaks loudly.

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