Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Absence

source

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it."---Nelson Mandela

"In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?"---Saint Augustine

"God is absence. God is solitude."---Jean Paul Sartre

"Your body is away from me,
but there is a window open
from my heart to yours."---Rumi

                                 Midweek Motif ~ Absence

What is true? Is it “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” or “Out of sight out of mind”?

There are two sides to absence: either love or lack of affection.

Strangely enough absence even brings momentary happiness. As a teacher I used to notice the flash of joy in children’s eyes in the mere mention of a stern teacher’s absence.

Poet Rabindranath Tagore, as a kid used to pray with all his might to keep his home tutors at bay. But to his dismay all of them had exceptionally sound health. He confessed that in his autobiography; he was a school dropout.

Today tell us about Absence in your poem.

Poems for your inspiration:

The Absent Father

by Christopher Tye

He is just a child,

Wondering why he hasn't got a father,

Like all the other children at school,

He is wondering why so many people have ostracised him,

For something that's not his fault.

Wondering why his father has never contacted him,

He is always hoping for a Christmas card or a birthday card,

His dreams of being part of normal family are always unfulfilled.

What of his father,

Is it the fear of having to come face his responsibilities,

Or is the fear of having to come face to face with his mistakes,

That has caused him to be forever absent?

When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be

by John Keats


 When I have fears that I may cease to be 

   Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain, 

Before high-pilèd books, in charactery, 

   Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain; 

When I behold, upon the night’s starred face, 

   Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, 

And think that I may never live to trace 

   Their shadows with the magic hand of chance; 

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, 

   That I shall never look upon thee more, 

Never have relish in the faery power 

   Of unreflecting love—then on the shore 

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think 

Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

    When We Two Parted

      by Lord Byron

 

WHEN we two parted

In silence and tears,

Half broken-hearted

To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

Colder thy kiss;

Truly that hour foretold

Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning

Sunk chill on my brow—

It felt like the warning

Of what I feel now.

Thy vows are all broken,

And light is thy fame:

I hear thy name spoken,

And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,

A knell to mine ear;

A shudder comes o'er me—

Why wert thou so dear?

They know not I knew thee,

Who knew thee too well:

Long, long shall I rue thee,

Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met—

In silence I grieve,

That thy heart could forget,

Thy spirit deceive.

If I should meet thee

After long years,

How should I greet thee?

With silence and tears. Please share your new poem using Mr. Linky below and visit others in the spirit of the community                            (Next week Susan's Midweek Motif will be ~ Suffrage, the right to vote)