Poems Can Help Us Say Goodbye

 

George Charles Ludwig II

1944 - 2020

Loved by So Many

amylvpoemfarm · Here And Gone And Here - a poem by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Dear Students and Friends - I have not been in this space for a couple of weeks because my loving father, George Ludwig, died on August 21, 2020. Instead of tending this space, I have been missing my dad very much and also taking care of his house and business.

Too, I have taken a position as a fourth grade teacher, and I could not be happier about this. It has been a sad time and a time of new beginnings, and I am grateful that my dad knew about my job. He was so happy for and proud of me, and I cannot wait to meet my students this week. It has been 22 years since I was a classroom teacher, and at this time of loss, I am happy to have a beautiful new beginning too. Thank you to everyone at Parkdale Elementary and everyone in the East Aurora Union Free School District for welcoming me so warmly.

Each person experiences ups and downs on life's rollercoaster, and I am grateful to have spent so much of my own life-ride with my father. Some of you may know the feeling of almost not believing that someone is gone, and at such a time, reading and writing poems can help us hold our feelings up to the light. Even when the world feels scary, words are here for us. Words and poems can help us grieve, can help us say goodbye.

I wrote this poem in the second person, choosing to write in the you voice instead of the I voice, even though this poem is actually about me and my own dad. It just felt right this way. Remember, when you write your own poems, you may choose the point of view. It need not always be your own.

Carol is hosting this week's Poetry Friday party over at Beyond LiteracyLink with the roundup and her Embracable Summer Gallery of poems and images.We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness each week of the year.

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Time - A Poem about Longing

Counting

by Amy LV

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Today's offering is a small poem that sprung from words I overheard a child say recently.  "I love my real dad....I haven't seen him in a half-a-month and three months."  

We all have longings: to see people, to go places, to find things, to be understood.  Hellos and goodbyes are a big part of life, and sometimes it helps us inside to write about them.  If you feel a longing, writing about it may help you understand it better or it might just feel good to put it into words.  I do that often, and sometimes, like today, I even write about others' longings.

You'll notice that this poem is written in tercets - lines of three - except for the ending. Originally, I drafted the poem in all one stanza, but then I decided to break it up to offer more pauses and more silence for the reader.  The middle four stanzas each end with a paratheses line because those lines feel like little hugs to me; they show how the child feels close to the father.

Why is that last line all by itself?  It's the most important one.

This week I am excited to be hosting teacher and notebook keeper Amy Zimmer Merrill over at Sharing Our Notebooks.  If you love notebooks and reading about them, you will enjoy her post very much!  And maybe you'll be the one to win a mini collage journal made my Amy herself!.

Violet is hosting today's poetry buffet over at Violet Nesdoly/poems.  Visiting her blog today will welcome you to the world of Poetry Friday poems and quotes, articles, and bits of inspiration, all across the kidlitosphere!

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