An Unclaimed Star

Poem by Maddie R.

9th-12th GRADE FINALIST FOR SPRING 2024 POETRY CONTEST. Prompt: All submissions must be in the form of an epistolary poem. An epistolary poem is a poem that reads as a letter to any person, place, or thing. As poems of direct address, they can be intimate and colloquial, or formal and measured. The subject matter can range from philosophical investigation to a declaration of love to a list of errands, and epistles can take any form, from heroic couplets to free verse. Your poem must be between 150 and 300 words.

My Dear,
I can’t bear to see you hiding
in the dim reflection of the record.
I’m still waiting for the needle to be lowered
by your dancing fingers.
A needle far kinder
than the nurse’s needles were to you.

I’m sad at the sound of trees
echoing your song in the forest,
whiling the hours away in the swinging chair,
letting the melancholy music lift your wings,
so you may fly about the dark
until you find an unclaimed star —
a star far more lasting than the hospital’s lights.

I shrink from the softness of your ties against my wrists
as I search the closet for a sweater
suited to the crisp fall air.
It feels wrong to enjoy the freshness of the season without you;
join me on my walk,
give me the company of your grin
or be within the air,
exist inside my atmosphere.
Create the winds and the rain,
the spirit of future seasons,
numb the pain of your final winter.

I want to live inside the love you brought us,
to see your face in the stained glass of our holy place
where I witness marriage, and remember ours,
witness births, and see our children.
I want to exist in the past and the present at once,
to see your smile in young faces,
hear your music in my paces,
feel your wings in my graces:
to see your star and remember who you were,
and how you live in those who are.

With much love,
Your Devoted