The Week of Distance

by Tanya Southey   Aug 10, 2020


I don’t have space
for grief -
there is a world
to save, even just
the tiny one
that spans the perimeter
of my influence

I do not have time to mourn
and yet the music starts,
the French horn,
the clarinet,
the drums that beat
and touch a chord
of all I do not wish to feel

And in that throaty note
of the voice that sings
“Mon amour”
I see you turn to leave -
a setting sun,
just enough cloud
to create a palette
of the colours
you painted on so many
blank canvasses,
and all the love,
the light, the memories
hang between the space
of here and there.

© Tanya Southey

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Latest Comments

  • 4 years ago

    by cassie hughes

    A very heartbreaking and beautiful read. Poignant and full of emotion. Well done on the win

  • 4 years ago

    by Skyfire

    Simply beautiful. I love the second stanza..."I do not have time to mourn and yet the music starts." It makes me think of a bystander during a funeral procession - someone who wishes they weren't there or that they didn't have to go through this but feels torn apart by the music in spite of their best effort.

  • 4 years ago

    by Gracy Judith

    Poignant and powerful! Loved it!

  • 4 years ago

    by Megan Chapman

    Beautiful, poignant and graceful, as ever Tanya <3 x

  • 4 years ago

    by Star

    This does have a different feel to it, not that it’s not in your style it completely is, but the emotions are really powerful.
    I’m sorry for your loss!

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