Dispenza Poems | Examples

I do
I do
Once upon a time
I did

Crash
Blood
Dismembered parts of us

Burned arteries
Holding
A heart 
Still beating
Still bleeding

 the past
Is a blade 
Memories cut
Deep
As the knife of regret
Slices what’s left
Of our lives

I do
I do
Once upon a time
Remember you


What was
So different
From 

What is
And what now is not.

Elizabeth Dispenza. Copyright 2023
Divorce poems

The Storm

      There is just enough love 
      to know what I should do
      I did not know the spirals
      the zig zag, the sharpness
      of the cuts
      of being your mother

      Thirty five years now of no-sleep nights
      the knocks on the door at midnight
      the 911's of motherhood 
     
      I still hear the echoes of your cries
     burning my ears
     as I stand in the summer rain 
     the amber red lights of porchlights
     flash like the police cars you encounter

     what good will my tears do now?
     shackles that click 
     encircling your strong wrists
     a sound I thought I'd never have to save you from

     You came into this world innocent and hungry
     and when I gazed upon your face
     I named you for the archangel 
     the votives still lit with hopeful prayer,
    
     You are walking in silence 
     over a path of stones,
     in tragic orange,
    a butterfly so beautiful
    with clipped wings.




Elizabeth Dispenza.  all rights reserved 2021

Before leaving for the firework show…
I found out that you died
All my friends said, “Come on, let’s go”
I step aside and cried

They asked me what was wrong with me
I told them of your fate
Envisioning your compelling plea...
I just had to keep the date

I know how much you loved this day
Especially the firework show
You always brought a flag to sway
And a festive horn to blow

I watched the show aside the charming moon
Thoughts of you filled the time
Your passing was far from opportune
You were in your prime

I gazed at the elaborate showing
The best I’ve ever seen
I expected to see far less glowing
Since city funds are lean

Then, I remembered, my dear friend
Where you are today
You must have got up there in time 
WOW, what an array!


*****Dedicated to one of the best men I have even known, 
Richard Dispenza (Sept. 16, 1952-July 4, 2011), my true pal forever.  
RIP Coach D.*******

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