Lost Words Still Unspoken

I’m at that age where death occurs regularly
enough that too many things are left unspoken—
in the fall of life grief has unburdened their meanings.  

Animals know the definition of winds and rains
descending mountain slopes and plush valley
but I know no mortal words for this silence.

I hear it in the song of birds, see it in leaves 
that crumble to sand, the old words I use to 
know lost in the land’s once unfolding song.

Canción was the word lost in my mother’s
insistence on using the new native tongue,
the accent mark vanishing in the grains.

It held the song of my grandmother,
the echoes of a mother’s regret in 
the willful silencing of an inheritance.

The long sounds of beach and surf
the moiling pith of my prenatal birth
were refitted to suit my new mouth

until islands of palabras were swallowed  
by my savage, steering tongue eager
for the crust of the new words formed.

Now, my ripen tongue taps my teeth,
a blind man feeling for the last 
aspirates of a lost and muted speech. 

“Adios,hijo,” the feminine voice says.
I look back and can not answer.
I know no words to tell her how I feel.

Posted

May 16, 2024

JONATHAN MOYA

Tags:

forgetfulness, forgetting, losing-language, Lost-words-still-unspoken, old age, Poem, poetry, unspoken-words

Comments

9 responses to “Lost Words Still Unspoken”

Jane Pryce

May 16, 2024

I really like this poem.

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JONATHAN MOYA

May 16, 2024

I’m glad.

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Willie Torres Jr.

May 20, 2024

Beautiful Poem 👍

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JONATHAN MOYA

May 20, 2024

Thanks.

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lisa

May 31, 2024

This so beautifully and hauntingly describes grief. Amazing piece of writing!

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lisa

May 31, 2024

This so beautifully and hauntingly describes grief. What an amazing piece of writing!

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JONATHAN MOYA

May 31, 2024

Appreciate the comment. Hope you enjoy reading more of my poetry and reviews.

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pedometergeek

June 5, 2024

What a powerful poem, very evocative of grief. I have noticed that the older I get, the more I feel diminished from the loss of friends and family. ~Nan

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JONATHAN MOYA

June 5, 2024

Thanks for the read and comment.

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