Wednesday, 7 April 2021

Four Poems by Robert Pegel



Jesus Wept                                            

 

Jesus wept.

But he never had a son.

If he had

then he might have known the pain

of losing one.

Jesus got to meditate in the garden.

There’s no time for that left now

in this chaotic world.

Full of everything

and nothing.

 

Sad and torn apart.

Need a brand new start.

An ocean of hope.

Wish blessings for days and years.

Promise me.

No.

I’ll save the tears.

 

Words mean little.

Ties are broken

left behind.

Sorting out the mess

for what seems like eternity.

Step into tomorrow

with one foot

left in yesterday.

Time means nothing anyhow.

 

Together or alone,

we are still a long way from home.

Mind works for me.

I’m still always me.

And who is for me.

Or against me?

 

Still, love is a beautiful thing.

The other mystery death

on the other hand.

You can keep it for yourself.

Wish I never knew it.

But it rules my life.

Trying hard to understand it.

But it’s a plague running wild.

 

Jesus don’t weep.

Give us answers we can live with.

Hope and belief.

I’ll say a prayer to Jesus.

Please control my mind.

Teach it not to wander far,

From what my soul’s trace

has left behind.



Flashback Forever 

                                                            

Pain is inspiration not sought after.

Wished to coast along through this

good life.

With misfortune on the other side of

the river.

Unscathed by circumstance beyond

my control.

But it was not meant to be.

 

Looking for the bright side of the

lessons learned.

Don’t tell me again how he is

in a better place.

Tell me how to fill the hole in my heart

and swim up to the surface

out of the depths of despair.

There is no replacing unconditional love

cut short well before its time.

 

A sixteen- year old sapling

growing strong.

On his way to great things

in the future.

Hard to take the long hike ever again now

with only a shadow by my side.

You are the someone always missing.


Still hear your voice in my mind.

All the time.

Talking about all the things that

caused you wonder.

Still have your detailed notes taken

from your last day at school.

As if the world wouldn’t stop turning

in the middle of the night.

As if breathing into your adult life was

your God given right.

 

Didn’t get a chance to say good night

one last time.

So I’ll say now I’ll see you again.

And believe it will happen.

Heartbreak was the only thing that

awoke the next morning.

When I found out you were already

long gone in flight.

Now peace is found in eternity.

Promise me there was no panic or pain

at the final hour,

when time on this earth stopped forever

for both of us.

And a lifetime of love drifted off

into the unknown.

Never to be seen in the same form again.



Father & Son            

 

I am you.

You are me.

Still living.

beat to beat.

Traveling with me,

minute to minute.

Making your wishes known,

then disappearing.

Temporarily.

Until a moment

must be recognized.

Overcome.

Listened to.

Heard.

Honoured.

Gotten through.

The world keeps moving,

never fully understood.

Communicate across levels,

just as we should.

Love never dies.

My son

lives in me.

Soul conscious.

Awake.

So much more

than a memory.



Secret Portal

 

So much more

than flesh and bones.

In a dream.

We are here.

Or not.

Conscious.

Awake.

Sleeping.

Living and dying

over and over again.

When did it start?

Will it ever end?

Why pretend

we know less

or more?

Keep moving,

in an infinite space.

Can’t replace.

Love is lost.

But never gone.

Seek to find.

Stay in place.

Run the race.

Birth to home.

And back again.

Death is not forever.

Eternity is a circle,

in the secret portal

of our mind.

 

Robert Pegel is a father and husband whose only child, his son Calvin, died four years ago.  Calvin was 16 and died in his sleep from unknown causes.  Robert writes poetry now to attempt to make sense of loss, grief and life’s unimaginable challenges.  Robert graduated from Columbia University where he majored in English. 


Robert has been published in Trouvaille Review, Bluepepper, Ariel Chart, Down in the Dirt, and Unique Poetry.  He has work upcoming in Last Leaves and Adelaide. 

Robert lives in Andover NJ with his wife, Zulma and their Min Pin dog, Chewy.

  

 

 

 

 



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