This page is dedicated to my brother David Woollam who was an artist, and a visionary. He was insightful, witty, and humorous. Sadly, he died too early in his life, in a car accident just after his nineteenth birthday.
Family Loss - A Poem
I was seven alone in the hollow room alone in the night I needed to know so all would be right So I fearfully asked my father as he was leaving "Why must we die?"
Perhaps it was the coming divorce which I sensed, but couldn't possibly understand Perhaps it was the hesitation in his ever-so-confident manner Perhaps it was that he had no answer
Months later the fear crept in again and I understood that Dad had left while my mother wept alone alone with all five kids God was her world shattered She hung on for years and years she wept
I was fifteen when came the sight a momentary glimpse that shed some light a momentary glimpse to behold that life is not as it seems, but ever-changing, just like a dream
It was the following year when my elder brother died It was a car accident He hit a pole located on the white line not off the road My walls began to tremble... My uncle pulled me aside and in his fear he boasted that I was the man of the family now Instantly, my eyes held back the tears
I held off for two long years before those walls came tumbling down; My love for Dave was so much greater than the wimpy fear to hang on
With those tears came such a surge of love
But why the taboo on feeling loss? Why such a fear surrounding death? Why not admit that beloved things eventually go? And let that love flow, let it flow
So in the eyes of the world I live on the edge between success and failure between heart and head
Yes here, between alive and dead without fear on this transcendent bed lies an answer unspoken....yet said
A Song of Loss:
Words to "Sweet Old World" written by Lucinda Williams
See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world
The breath from your own lips, the touch of fingertips A sweet and tender kiss The sound of a midnight train, wearing someone's ring Someone calling your name Somebody so warm cradled in your arm Didn't you think you were worth anything
See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world
Millions of us in love, promises made good Your own flesh and blood Looking for some truth, dancing with no shoes The beat, the rhythm, the blues The pounding of your heart's drum together with another one Didn't you think anyone loved you
See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world
