In 2024 two people I dearly loved died unexpectedly, both in their 50’s. Their deaths changed me. This is about love and loss and how fragile life is. Also, it is a poem about hope.


Anticipation

Where can I go
to escape the fear of death -
not my own,
but that those
who hold my heart
might go before me?

The anchor that grounds me
lets me drift in and out
in waves of joy,
but always pulls me back,
a quiet warning
to stay alert.

The open sea
is wide with possibility,
but offers no guarantees
that we will all
arrive safely
to shore.

Some will fall overboard,
beyond my reach,
float out of my sight;
my prayer - the tide will
carry them home.

I am no longer captain
of my own ship.

I feel the weight
of a power I never had,
control I only imagined
before death took the helm
and told me
to sit down.

The horizons blur,
but the lighthouse
beams steady,
a beacon home.

I close my eyes,
the rocking steadies me,
the rhythm of a cradle,
from birth to death.

Now there is this hope:
that I will reach the shore
ahead of them,
be there waiting
to greet them,

be the one to say,
“Welcome home.”



Poetry by Melinda K Zarate The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 11 times
Written on 2026-04-19 at 22:45

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