Tag: Grief

Grief, Poetry

However, I Have Felt the Drift Begin

Mark Wayne
An older photo of the Columbia River in Central Washington.
The howling wind
Convicts our souls
While looking back
We search for truth
Along lonely paths
Hiding the regrets
However, I have felt
The drift begin

©Mark Wayne 2020

Struggling now with so many things. And yet I am trying to chose to continue to believe in a better tomorrow. My mind is confused, feeling lonely and this old picture taken years ago and these words penned in this moment capture how I feel.

#JustBelieve #HopeLives #LoveChangesPeople #YouMatter #BeAWarrior

“However, I have felt the drift begin.” #BlogPost #YouMatter #WritingCommunity

Grief, Life, Writing

She Comes Out of the Sun – "Hello"

Mark Wayne

“Hello” it was that simple little word that started it all in the fall of 1984. I remember the girl with long brown hair, tanned skin wearing a summer dress and espadrille sandals approaching the art table where I sat as the lyrics to the Al Stewart song The Year of the Cat rang through my mind.

She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain
Don’t bother asking for explanations
She’ll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat

She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running – Like a watercolor in the rain https://youtu.be/tqW4xIr7nj0 Al Stewart “The Year of the Cat”

My voice trembled and I heard myself say with great effort, “I only want her to not be in pain.”

“That is all I am focused on.” He stated his voice low and measured. He gazed at me with a look of both sadness and resignation before turning and walking away.

Memory flooded back as I stood in the hospital corridor, the lyrics to “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by the Eagles chorusing through my mind.

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay
Against your skin so brown
And I want to sleep with you in the desert night
With a billion stars all around…

I get this feelin’ I may know you
As a lover and a friend
This voice keeps whisperin’ in my other ear
Tells me I may never see you again

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay – Against your skin so brown – And I want to sleep with you in the desert night – With a billion stars all around… https://youtu.be/NjofshOBV5s Eagles “Peaceful Easy Feeling”

This post is excerpted from my upcoming memoir, tentatively titled – There is Always Hope.

My first wife died of breast cancer at the age of 26 after battling over the last three years of our short five year marriage and yes, cancer sucks.

Over twenty-five years have come and gone and still there is not a day that something does not remind me of her. The twinges of memory flit across my mind as a butterfly haunts a flower.

Be sure to click the follow button and subscribe and be one of the first to receive email updates about the forthcoming book and other happenings. I would also love to hear your thoughts so leave me a comment. You can connect with me on Twitter @mwschutter, Instagram @mwschutter or Facebook @mwschutter

#JustBelieve #HopeLives #LoveChangesPeople #YouMatter #BeAWarrior

Life, Poetry, Writing

Echoing the Backdrop

Mark Wayne

#JustBelieve #HopeLives #LoveChangesPeople

The rain has definitely arrived here in the Pacific Northwest and just in time some might say. Looks like another wet and green Christmas but that’s okay.

I love laying in bed listening to the raindrops hitting our metal porch roof right outside the bedroom window. Which we keep open all year long.

The sound of the rain mixes with the soft melody of the wind chimes that gently lull me to sleep. Dreams and memories travel through my mind as I rest in the moments of tranquility.

These restful moments spur ideas for my writings. What moments, sounds or experiences bring you peace and inspire your creativity?

Life, Stories, Writing

“She died. She is dead.” Thoughts and coming to terms with the words.

Mark Wayne

Widowed and/or bereaved? And does it even really matter when the words don’t change the outcome?

Widowed – verb: past participle: widowed

  1. become a widow or widower; lose one’s spouse through death.
    • Widow – noun: widow; plural noun: widows
      a woman who has lost her spouse by death and has not remarried.
    1. Widower – noun: widower; plural noun: widowers
      a man who has lost his spouse by death and has not remarried.

Bereaved – verb: past participle: bereaved

  1. be deprived of a loved one through a profound absence, especially due to the loved one’s death.

“She died. She is dead. Is the word so difficult to learn?” ~C.S. Lewis {A Grief Observed}

We use the terms ‘lost’, ‘deprived’ and ‘absence’ when the truth is they died. Their physical mortal body ceased to work and they died. You are widowed until you remarry, then no longer a widow or widower? And are you still bereaved every single moment, day, month, and year after losing a loved one?

The pain and the grief, never goes away even when you commit actions that take you in another direction, such as remarrying. Grief is not something you get over, it is something you carry with you for the rest of your life. It irrevocably changes you, how could it not?

Does the soul live on after death? I believe it does and that’s a topic for another blog post.

“Well, we have nothing if not belief.” ~Reepicheep {The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis}