I’m picking up on a line here from Ngina that really spoke to me “a tear could attract birds of prey”. Although I’m not actually sure which homonym of tear she meant.
It is not harsh words
or sad news.
It is unexpected kindness
in the midst of sorrow and cruelty
that tears a sob
gasping from my chest
and pours tears down my face.
Because tears could attract birds of prey –
honed talons spread
obsidian beaks waiting to gorge.
Or worse, carrion crows,
black rag-scraps fluttering and fighting
for a carcass morsel.
It is only in solitude
or in the company of kindness
that tears can be safely released.
Things are a bit shit at the moment. My father was recently taken into care because his dementia got so bad he started wandering and getting lost. My mother then had a fall and is now in hospital and doesn’t know where she is. One of my kids hates me and takes every opportunity to tell me how much – and it’s a lot, and he tells me continuously. And we’re flooded in so I can’t get away from him. And most of my job is dealing with problems – people’s problems and problem people. I’m feeling assailed by negativity on all sides.
So at the campus end of year function today when a colleague thanked me for inspiring him I completely lost it and bawled my eyes out for the next half hour. Lucky it was online so no one could see me.
anotherKate 
sad times. i know about verbal missives too.
❤
Well, you inspire me Kate with your beautiful poetry. Is the mum-hater a teenager by any chance? Kids go through phases which can be very hurtful, but keep your cool and you’ll both come out at the other end! 🧡🌹
Thanks Hobbo, and yes a teenager. Throw in ADHD and ASD and I guess I can’t expect him to have enough maturity or empathy to know when to back off… but knowing that intellectually doesn’t make it (much) less hurtful.
But yes, this will pass. Eventually he’ll move out of home. 🙂
🤣 Don’t get your hopes up too much, Kate. He may move out but that doesn’t stop him coming back! It does hurt at the time, but it does get better, although I’m sure that his disorders only serve to aggravate the problem for both of you.🧡
hmmm…. I could move and not leave a forwarding address. 😀
😂 If you wrap him a packed lunch in a road map, he might take the hint!
Hello Kate. First, your writing really inspires me and I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. Those three last lines of your poem just about explain what the statement ‘ a tear could attract birds of prey’ means. Sometimes one can can only shed a tear within certain confinements otherwise it will be calling problems upon oneself if done elsewhere.
Even if things aren’t going great for you, YOU will be okay.
Thank you Ngina ❤ That's so kind of you.
Kate so very sorry you’re in a dark spiral of events right now. Glad you were able to release some of the sad energy through tears. Family is a nuclear power storehouse of emotions of all kinds.
Thanks Lisa, and you’re so right! I ran into a friend in a carpark the other day and we spent 30 minutes standing there in the hot sun just comparing notes on families. It was a relief to know it’s not just mine that’s a nuclear accident. 😀
As Pink Floyd sings, “there’s a lot of it about.” Hoping we and the planet see better days in 2022.
What a rotten time – with such problems from so many quarters. I can see how that line would have spoken to you at the moment. Your poem obviously speaks from the heart – a beautifully written piece. As Hobbo says, hang on in there, we love reading your work. Xx
Thank you Marion ❤
This all sounds really rough, Kate, but you wrote a beautiful, eloquent poem from the sadness and appreciation. I hope your situation improves.
Thanks LuAnne. ❤
Eloquently evocative Kate in trying times🙏
What’s not to love in a sunburnt country where in Queensland you can be flooded in and Tassie has north western bushfires all bound together by Wuhan’ s Virus
It’s just crazy in NSW – record case numbers and the mask mandate and check-ins have been dropped! But, at least we don’t have any bushfires. Touch wood…
A superb poem. I particularly liked the sight and sound of “black rag-scraps.” Excellent.
Thank you Roger 🙂
I’m so sorry about the difficult times you are going through❤️
Thank you ❤
and happy new year. 🙂 2022 has got to be better!
I hope the New Year has bought better times. Cheers from me.
Thank you Benita!
I love that title “both of us can’t look good…”. I’d settle for either most days. 😀
You inspire and everything else sucks. That sucks and you put that fact out there with a poem that inspires for its acuity and insight. You fear exposure and here you expose yourself. I only know your writing, but it tells me there is something special about you.
Thank you Sean ❤