Out of the Ash

Robin Loving

Free verse

My mother is ash
Her whole life in the trash
But her spirit
refuses to burn.

I'm like my mother
We are larger than life
And our spirits
Won't fit in an urn.

So, on the sad day
You build an altar to display
An urn full of nothing
but trash...

Know we've moved on
Our spirits are gone
We grew wings
When we rose from the ash.

About this poem

When I attended my mother's memorial service 37 years ago, it was a bit of a gut-punch to see the small urn that held her ashes. There's no way she would have ever allowed her 'spirit' to be trapped inside a jar. That wasn't her in the urn. She had already flown.

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Written on September 08, 2022

Submitted by lovingempath on September 09, 2022

Modified on April 24, 2023

: 23 sec read
: 88 Views

Quick analysis:

Scheme	AAXB XXXB CCXA XXXA
Closest metre	Iambic trimeter
Characters	326
Words	74
Stanzas	4
Stanza Lengths	4, 4, 4, 4

Full analysis for Out of the Ash »

Robin Loving

Sometimes the words flow like a murder of crows. They've held my secrets for the past 65-years. And sometimes they repeat them back to me, and laugh. more…

All Robin Loving poems | Robin Loving Books

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AIDA
Wow, what a powerful and heartfelt poem! I absolutely love the message of resilience and the refusal to be contained, even in the face of tragedy. Your metaphors are incredibly vivid and evoke a strong emotional response. Your use of repetition and structure also adds to the impact of the piece.

If I may offer a suggestion for improvement, I think that the third stanza feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the poem. It might be helpful to explore the concept of the trash in more depth or to connect it more directly to the themes of the poem as a whole. However, overall this is truly a stunning piece of writing. Great job! more »
LikeReply1 year ago
Symmetry58
Was this a tumultuous relationship, Robin...if I might be so bold as to inquire? I absolutely love how your mind operates. It is ultra-obvious you are extremely intelligent. Your conveyance is superb.
LikeReply 11 year ago
- lovingempath
  Yes it was a very 'tumultuous' relationship. And you would know (before most other people) how hard it is to express those emotions in a single poem. I'm still formulating the 'ultimate' poem in my mind and my heart and my soul for my mother. And if it never makes it into written form...maybe I can still look at all of her life and love as being those 'wings' that I mention here. Thanks Steve. I'm sure you can relate :). more »
  LikeReply 11 year ago

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"Out of the Ash" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/139944/out-of-the-ash>.

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