[Critique Group 2] poem for January 21 critique session, 418 words

[Alice Massa]

Good evening, Group 2 writer friends,


     My submission for our next critique session on January 21 includes 
two parts:  one letter in verse, followed by three asterisks and then a 
second letter in poetic form also.  The two letters go together to form 
this one poem.


Looking forward to our discussion on the 21st!

Take good care--Alice


*Epistolary Prayer Debate of Our Times*

Fictional Poem by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

Dear editor,

Cc:

Dear Governor,

Dear State Senator,

Dear God,

No one should be disallowed

 From holding the hand of a loved one

At one’s dying hour.

I beg you:

Please pass the “Dying Hand Bill,”

WC 07.15.19.50,

Today--

Because even today is too late

For some,

For too many,

For my mother.

Whether this bill allows a gloved or ungloved hand,

You must pass this bill

For all who are loved.

My mask may hide my feelings in public;

But my heart will forever bleed

Upon this page

For I will be forever haunted, haunted

By my mother’s being forced

To die alone--

Alone, alone--

No one to hold her hand.

Now, alone, alone, I will carry this tragic imprint

On my heart

For all of my remaining tearful,

Grieving days.

With grave concern,

Crying Resident in Milwaukee

* * *

Dear editor,

Dear daughter,

God bless my daughter

For she is good;

And despite the tone of her voice and pen,

She means well.

I am well:

I am just so far away;

Yet you will be surprised by the times

I have been so near to you,

My daughter.

Do not let the thoughts of that night

Haunt you.

I believe--

Yes, I believe

That someone did hold my ungloved hand

That night.

In the velvet darkness of that night

Came a soft, expanding golden light.

Then, at my dying hour,

I felt the gentle breeze

Of angels’ wings around me.

With strength I thought I did not have,

I moved my hand from under three blankets

And reached out

To hold

And be comforted by

What I believe--

Yes, what I believe

Was the glorious hand

Of God.

In the palm of His hand,

I felt your love and presence,

I saw your smiling face

And a photo album

Of all my happy times on Earth.

You thought you were not with me,

But I assure you

That at my dying hour,

I was with you.

Please do not let your heart grieve so;

Stop crying yourself to sleep each night.

I am with you always.

The other day,

When you felt,

In your gloved hand,

The snow-covered hydrangea,

I was there.

Of course,

Dearest daughter,

I am for the passage of the bill;

But you must come to terms with my passage

And be blessed

By understanding

I was not alone.

I believe

I was not alone:

Now, you,

My beloved daughter,

Must believe.

 From the snow-covered

Wings of love,

Your grateful mother

* * *

Number of words:418

Completed on January 14, 2021, Thursday, for Critique Group 2 meeting on 
January 21, 2021, Thursday

--The End!


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