Mourning two mavericks

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury

For Ivan and Graham

Your death announced last month; the solemn word
 was passed along a shrinking line of kin and friends
 as though we'd touched your body one last time. Absurd 
 to think the world no longer casts your spark
that voice, those songs, as undeterred
 you crazy-paved a path through life. One maverick 
 but then another joined this May. I heard
 he died deflated, breathless, but flamboyant to the end. 
Of our cabal, I'm all that's left- the third?

For Grace’s MTB prompt we are writing poetry with the Magic 9 rhyme scheme a,b,a,c,a,d,a,b,a

45 thoughts on “Mourning two mavericks”

  1. A deft use of the form though on such a melancholy subject, Laura. I especially loved “to think the world no longer casts your spark” — exquisitely phrased.

  2. This is such a personal Magic 9, Laura, poignant and honest. Losing loved ones and friends is never easy, but as we get older, the ‘solemn word […] passed along a shrinking line of kin and friends’ becomes familiar. These lines stand out for me: ‘…Absurd to think the world no longer casts your spark’ and ‘you crazy-paved a path through life’.

  5. Beautifully crafted, but sad, Laura. I’m so sorry for your loss. May his memory be a blessing. That it is part of growing older does not help the pain.

  7. Deepest condolences Laura. I would love to be flamboyant to the end, as I fear I will be deflated and forgotten. Love your magic 9 poem specially the a rhymes – word, absurd, undeterred, heard, third.

  8. Those losses that add up and subtract so much at the same time. I’m sorry Laura. Knowing is not the same as believing. And yet I feel the spirits shining through the melancholy in your words. (K)

  9. I wish I would be remembered as fondly after I die. Losing friends (or family) as we grow older not just brings our mortality closer but the void that begins to grow larger is so difficult to accept. Love the way you crafted it, somber but not melancholic. Even though you don’t like rhyming, your rhymes are always on point.

      1. I have been ‘silently’ following your creative paths. The house build is taking up all my time, overwhelmingly so. Fingers crossed, end on June we’ll move in! xo

        1. Of course you are so busy elsewhere so thank you for still finding time to follow along. I look forward to June then and seeing you/hearing from you in your new home and artist studio – how exciting

  12. Your beautifully written poem worthily celebrates two lives that we didn’t know, Laura, but you share a glimpse of them with us and it is clear that you will never let them go where it matters…

  13. Beautiful and emotive. To have crazy-paved a path through life is a wonderful thought and to lose two Mavericks is such a loss. I am so sorry for your loss.

  14. Really touching and lamentous, it is always especially sad to coin poems like these in the months where everything is blooming, but I like to see it as a re=start of the life, somewhere yet invisible to us.

    1. very nice observation thank you – people dying just whilst the world here is bursting with life but as you say, perhaps they are burgeoning in another kind of life elsewhere

  16. This is so deeply human and so beautifully expressed, two gaping holes that leave brokenness behind but illustrate the strength of the bond and connection that existed between the ‘cabal’. It takes real talent to hold deep sorrow up to the light this way, and I agree with everyone else about the rhyming words: superb.

    1. Kim, its heartening to hear you felt the sorrow of the poem with it being maudlin and understood the impact. Thank you for such encouraging feedback

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