Comments : Overdue Goodbye

  • 9 years ago

    by Larry Chamberlin

    Saffie, as heartbreaking as this poem is, I want reassurance that it is in the final part either metaphor or overstatement.

    The poem is stated straightforward, without pretense or overdrawn similes. The one exception is the most beautiful line in the work:

    "I still see your reflection in my tears"

    This statement can be taken on at least three levels:
    - the literal casting of their reflection as your tears drop
    - knowing that they are the cause of the tears, in a negative sense
    - remembering the bittersweet experience that made the tears, yet which may have been well worth it (better to have loved & lost ...)

    and perhaps a fourth:
    - their visage appears to you as so sharp an experience it is akin to a mirage in your tears.

    Wonderful poem, Saffie.