On Receipt of Bad News
For the dialogue poetry challenge
I’m so sorry darling.
Did we have rain today?
Did she say how it happened?
No, she didn’t say.
You must be devastated.
The garden looks quite dry.
It’s such a shock for everyone.
Oh goodness, don’t you cry.
When did we last visit him?
Will it rain tonight?
I remember there were bluebells out.
The forecast says it might.
Do you remember how we laughed?
Could you pass the butter?
That article you read aloud?
Can’t reach past all this clutter.
I can’t believe he’s really gone.
This meat is very tough.
I’m sorry, I’m just…. Quite upset.
I think I’ve had enough.
Will there be a funeral?
We’ll find out from his daughter.
I’ll have to get your jacket pressed.
The garden needs some water.
Oh sod the plants, at times like this!
You’d let the garden die?
It will be fine for just one night!
With temperatures so high?
Do you even feel at all?
Some rain is what it needs.
You care for flowers more than him!
I grew them from his seeds.
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Message Me Afterwards
>That was a bad idea. I thought you knew… >Oh, the pathos! I don’t really know you as well as I should. In fact, I may not know the real you at all. That essential, sparkling you that you only reveal to a select few. Had I been paying more attention to the stories you are so fond of telling, in which you are invariably author, narrator and protagonist, I would not have been so foolish as to set you up on a blind date. After all, no friend has ever done anything of the kind for another. That’s preposterous. What is a friend, really?
By D. J. Reddall5 days ago in Fiction
Comments (13)
That last line was haunting. I kept imagining an old couple at dinner reading this where their both only half listening to each other
Lovely!!! Loved it!!!❤️❤️💕
I feel like this is the exact sort of conversation my mum and dad have. We all handle grief and our emotions differently. This was excellent.
Outstanding...so sad...so genuine, authentic and just real. But, written with your skilled flourish. That last line...just works so well to tie it all together. Just...yeah...I imagine seeing this in the winner's circle. Well done, Hannah.
The last line indicates 'don't judge a book by its cover'. The reasons why people do things are not always clear to us. It goes deeper.
Very, very well done! This felt like a familiar and authentic dynamic in the sense of there being a verbal processor and an internal processor each on their own trajectory for dealing with grief
Excellent dialogue showing different ways of coping with grief… or not. Loved the rhyme.
Oh my, no wonder the plants were so important 🥺 I didn't see that coming, it hit me so hard. Loved your poem!
Oh the flowers - his flower seeds, their way of caring. Lovely. 🫶🏻🫶🏻
Thank you for the interesting and delicious content. Follow my story now.
You positively tapped into a quintessential grief reality with this poem. Great work. I could relate whole heartedly!
Grieving is different for everyone. This feels authentic. Two people having two separate conversations together. I loved it!
I love this playful dialogue on such a sad topic 🫣