Marigold Sky

where the marigolds grow

Evening spills
  in watercolor.
The horizon breathes
  peach and lavender,
sipping back the light
  of all its past afternoons,
softening into indigo.

  Grief does not vanish;
    it shifts--

Sometimes, love doesn't leave--
  it simply changes form.
I watch the quiet sky,
  a hush where the day dissolves.

Gold rises
  from the swaying field--
the spirit of the sun
  shimmers, folding into itself--
becoming wing,
  becoming a canary's song--
a brief, bright note
  against the fading sky.

The song threads the air--
  catches the sun--
   melts into the wind.
I feel its strand in my hands.
The gold stretches, quivers--
  folding higher--
   becoming a kite
    in its own light--
    slipping through my grasp
     into the warm horizon.

I stand in the still afterlight--
  hands warmed by memory.
The marigolds bow.
  The sky softens,
its colors blending with time.

Somewhere--
  the wind turns gold again--
reminding me that what we love
  is never truly lost.

It only learns to soar--
  with wings that catch the sun--
   beyond human reach.

Author's Note

The lines rise and fall,
their indentation tracing the path of a kite, lifting, drifting, letting go.

Reviews

[Neville]

This is really quite beautiful & on so many different levels .. the concept of playing a kite & the corresponding undulated formatting work extremely well .. whilst the main theme that underpins and serves as the foundation for this fine work remains at the forefront of focus throughout .. bravo dear poet .. Neville 🌻👍

[RomaJ]

Neville. I’m touched by your thoughtful reading. I hoped the imagery and rhythm would carry that sense of lift and release..it means a lot that it resonated with you.

[Vol]

Roma,
If you were the only poet on here, I would not miss a day... Your voice and style are STUNNING... Your insights and depth are worthy of study and makes this bit of time, like a little bit of gold.... Thank yo!
Vol

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Vol. That’s such a beautiful compliment, and it means a lot coming from a master poet like you. Your words truly brightened my day.

[Vol]

I have never been able to hold back...

[John the Baptist]

Loved the last two verses especially. What we love/ is never truly lost. That is because our own essence is also never truly lost. Well stated.

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, John. Yes, that idea of love and essence enduring is at the heart of the poem-- I appreciate your thoughtful words.

[ShadesofV]

This is such a beautiful, tender meditation on loss and transformation. The marigolds flowers often linked with remembrance, grief, and the sun, glow here as quiet symbols of endurance, holding both sorrow and light.

The canary and the kite extend that radiance skyward, embodying the soul’s ascent and the way love continues beyond our grasp.

The poem’s structure itself drifts like a kite... gentle, ascending, and full of motion. . mirroring the journey from grief to acceptance.

Reading it felt like watching sunlight turn into wind.

Exquisitely penned!

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Vlue-- your words are beautiful and really capture what I hoped the poem would convey. I love how you described the poem’s structure as drifting like a kite--that mirrors exactly the journey I wanted to reflect, from grief to love’s enduring light. I truly appreciate your thoughtful and heartfelt reading.

[Nightmareish]

Descriptions are incredible; However I found it a little hard to follow

[ShadesofV]

Read it from left to right lol

[ShadesofV]

Top to bottom

[RomaJ]

Nightmareish-- I’m curious-- could you tell me a bit more about what felt hard to follow? I know the layout is a bit unconventional with the spacing and line breaks, but the reading order is still left to right. I’d love to understand your perspective.

[Chris Shaw]

A masterclass in imagery and how grief ebbs and flows over time and space. It reminded me of a poem I wrote about my brother. I eventually let go of the balloon, but it hurt to do so. The colours and scents in this poem stimulate the senses. A gorgeous piece, I read it three times RomaJ. Marigolds, I had them in my garden this summer gone. Lovely.

Chris

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Chris-- your words mean a lot. I’m touched that the poem resonated with your own experience of grief and letting go. It’s wonderful to hear about your marigolds in your garden-- they really do hold a special kind of memory and light. I'll definitely look for your poem about the balloon and your brother. I'd love to read it

[red93]

Fabulous Work again Roma. I have decided that you are particularly good with colours - you have a very painterly eye.

Also these lines - Really Excellent -

I watch the quiet sky,
  a hush where the day dissolves.

✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much! I’m so glad the imagery resonated with you-- your words about color mean a lot. The sunsets where I live are incredible, and I always try to capture the colors as I see them. But seeing them in person is even more beautiful than I can ever put into words, so I really appreciate you saying that.

[red93]

✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Jansy]

RomaJ ,This poem resonates with a quiet, undeniable truth: that grief does not vanish; it shifts. You've given that shifting a perfect, breathtaking visual form.

​The opening lines are stunning. The way the evening "spills in watercolor" and the horizon is "sipping back the light" immediately sets a tone of delicate, melancholic beauty.

It’s the kind of sunset that feels both final and full of promise.
​What stands out most is the exquisite metaphor for transcendence.

You transform the tangible, earthly "gold" of the swaying field into the pure essence of the spirit. the fleeting "canary's song," then the soaring, free form of the kite that slips "beyond human reach."

This sequence perfectly articulates the shift from physical presence to spiritual memory. It acknowledges the loss of the physical connection ("slipping through my grasp") while validating the warmth that remains ("hands warmed by memory").

​It’s a powerful and comforting
reminding us that love’s energy is merely recycled into something higher, stronger, and boundless.

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Jansy. I’m really touched by your words and how deeply you understood what I hoped to express.

That idea of grief transforming--but never truly disappearing--has always felt both painful and beautiful to me.

I love how you described it as love’s energy being recycled into something boundless--that captures the heart of it perfectly. I’m so glad the imagery resonated with you.

[Jansy]

It reads well for me. Maybe the guy is crossed- idid

[RomaJ]

but you know it's biscuits and gravy...