The Friday Poem on 28/01/22
‘Out of the blue’ by Richie McCaffery does so much in so few words. The story is a familiar one of separation and loss, but the way the story is told is what does it for us — it is precisely observed, evocative and relatable. The language is plain and simple, tightly crafted and laden with allusion. Birds, trees, fruit — the whole of nature seems to offer a counterpoint to the narrator’s inner world, until at last the framing of the blossom as plectrums allows some hope that there is way to deal with, even make use of, pain
Out of the blue
She left me at the height of nesting season,
birds building as I was dismantling my home.
She left me as saplings we’d planted were fruiting,
their berries tart as the metal of front door keys.
She left me and I walked down the garden path
for the last time, all confettied with blossom,
the petals like plectrums as if one day
I might learn to make music from all this.
