"Puzzling" dedicated to my brother

 Puzzling

By Janet Sobczyk, 2020
Dedicated to Jon Blide, 1968-2020

Jigsaw puzzles can be reassuring.
They start as a jumbled mess
but when the last piece is in place
are beautiful and whole.
Much like our own lives
messy, confusing
slow to come together
 beauty concealed
until all is revealed at the end.
 
Now, after a sudden loss,
the puzzle of that person’s life and death
brings us pain, not peace
confusion instead of consolation
shock halts thinking
can’t make sense of the pieces.

Try to sort them out
only a few on the edge
line up.
What about the rest?
Time passes
waiting is rewarded with another piece
more waiting
another piece
we want them all
but time is stingy with pieces. 

When everything has been said
and done
only then will we see
we don’t have all the pieces.

 

We need it all to fit
we want all the answers!
Do we keep searching for pieces
or let go and wait for them to come?

It’s our choice…
regret the gaps or
find the beauty in the partial picture of a loved one's life.

"Waiting for Snow" published in Dec. issue of YCN

 

Waiting for Snow

By Janet Sobczyk, 2020

The photo is by editor Stephen Hassler and appears with my poem in Your Country Neighbor. I like his choice of snow geese to pair with my snow poem.

I wrote the Adulthood side of the poem first, thinking about how much I dread winter with its cold and dangerous roads. I try not to let it, but the dread starts to set in at the end of summer and somewhat ruins autumn for me. Then I started thinking about how differently I viewed snow as a child, and the other half of the poem poured out quickly, providing much-needed balance. 

To view the entire Dec. issue, click here: Your Country Neighbor