MOMENTS IN MOURNING
Path Publishing’s newest release!
MOMENTS IN MOURNING — A guide to the healing of grief
A survivor after losing a mate of 42 years, Marianne McNeil Logan, a well-known rhyming poet, gently leads the reader through different stages of losing a loved one and into the light, discovering a new life is still possible. A poet with many accolades, three of her chapbooks have garnered five national awards and a
Pulitzer Prize nomination.
Praise
“When we don’t know what to say to a grieving widow, these poems speak words of truth, comfort and guidance from the pen of a gifted poet who writes from experience. After the flowers have faded and reality sets in, this book will continue to bless and heal.” Vivian Ramsey Stewart, past Poet Laureate and former President of the Poetry Society of Oklahoma.
“The 63 poems in this purse-sized book share a woman’s emotions as she watches her husband dying, faces the loneliness, and finds new hope. Other women who have faced or are now facing ‘moments in mourning’ will find poems in the book to express their own emotions.” Madelyn Eastlund, past President of National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Editor of NFSPS’ newsletter Strophes, and Editor of Poets’ Forum Magazine, one of poetry’s leading magazines.
The Watch Section
Facade resigned
I'm tired of people telling me I am resigned to watch and wait, to grieve
"You must be very strong and mourn at loss as his life slips away.
to bear your grief the way you do." I am resigned to accept the empty days
Why can't they see they're wrong? and lonely nights when I reach for him
but no body is there.
I'm weak, alone, and so afraid,
yet still, I guess, I try I am resigned to hear the words
to fill my days with busy things, that he has gone and I am left alone.
but late at night, Resigned?
I Oh, no, I'm not.
cry. I'm mad!!!
reality Abandoned
it's difficult to realize and accept Oh, Lord, why have You
that his friends and mine abandoned me
still laugh and joke and dance during my trial of anguish and grief
even though or
our world have
is I
ending abandoned
You?
The Mourning Section
Measure of Grief Futility
How can you measure agony I stand upon our small white bridge
of anguish at your loss and watch the world hurl by
the wrenching sobs and scalding tears, as others hurtle someplace else--
long hours you turn and toss I wish that I could die.
reliving loving memories,
experiences you've shared, The past no longer matters much;
the ecstasy--security that life has been destroyed;
of knowing someone cared? I come each day to talk to him.
What happens to the spirit I'm living in a void.
when the heart is torn, bereft,
when world you've known is torn to shreds Now this is life I must accept
until no hope is left? in natural sequence;
How can you measure suffering since he is gone, I don't exist.
through empty hours until It doesn't make much sense.
the passing time can heal the hurt
like people say it will? Emptiness
At Risk A widow's world grows emptier
as friends drop out of sight;
Depression is a lonely stage if only one would call and say,
with each slow step downhill; "Let's go eat out tonight!"
their closest friends must be alert--
this feaful phase can kill.
Recovering Section
Widow's Wake Breaking the Chain
Self-pity's chain, with binding links The sonnet she had written about time
has held me in the past, that heals the heart still numbed by hopeless grief
immersed in memories and loss "Till withered autumn leaf" stabbed deep. Belief
until I realize, at last, in words she wrote gave added strength to rhyme.
One line said "sleep had shielded during plight"
I have to break that fearsome hold, with healing powers found in slumbers' charms,
completely break away, where I too searched for solace. Mystic arms
regain control and sanity of Morpheus still comfort me at night.
in every single way. Though mourning grief and worries since his death
have eased. I realize, self-pity's chain
But still, it's hard to start again, that blinds and binds was still creating pain.
and strike out on my own, I will not let depression taint each breath.
yet anything is better than
just grieving here, alone. I will no longer let self-pity's hold
and loneliness control. Let life unfold!
new learning process On the Bridge (last verse, last page)
struggling to find secure footing Once more, I'm standing on our bridge
with strangers in this for you just have to know
crazy new world is a bit like I have a reason now to live--
learning to skate if you will let me go.
backwards
This limited first edition, signed and numbered by Marianne, is only $7.99 ? 68 pages,
4¼ x 7 (purse size), top stapled, 2.5 ounces. The e-book (pdf) version, which you can print out on your computer, is $7.00; contact the publisher. ISBN 978-1-891774-08-9
To order from the author, email her at mmmltx@nts-online.net or write to her at 2700 S. Roosevelt, Amarillo, Texas 79103. Add $1.50 for postage for first book and 90 cents for each additional, mailed in a 6 x 9 envelope. Add $1.00 for a padded mailer. To order, Texans need
to add sales tax of 8.25 percent. All books will be autographed. Check out her web site, www.poetmariannelogan.com.
Check out many more of our writers, artists, and other creative people at www.pathpublishing.com! To order from the publisher, write or call (8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central Time ? have your credit card information ready). Postage is $3.50 for the first item and
75 cents for each additional. Texas residents need to add 8.25 percent sales tax. Mail to Path Publishing, 4302 W. 51st #121, Amarillo, Texas 79109-6159 or phone 1-877-PATH-877
(1-877-7284-877) or (806) 322-7007.