Journey Of Resilience


Today, with the inclusion of the word “resilience” in the word list, I couldn’t help but continue the story I started two years ago. See “process notes” following the poem for more details…
 

JOURNEY OF RESILIENCE

Nearly two years have passed
since my husband’s body
was shipped home
from the land of infidels.

That’s what they are, right?
Surely a war like this could not be
because of their true belief in God?

It was such a shock, at first.
To know that the love of my life
had been taken from me…

from that spot on the hill
where he had no shelter;
no protection from the barrage
of bullets; roadside bombs,
hidden, in wait for him;
there was no way out…

…and then to read the last words
he wrote to me. He wrote of
resilience. He was urging me
to not just survive, but to thrive.
I made that promise to him
as I read his words.

I’ve spent two years in the struggle
against letting these events harden
my heart and, for the first time,
believe he was right.

I am resilient.

2013-04-21
P. Wanken

 

Inspired first by The Sunday Whirl #105: shipped, shelter, shock, bomb, promise, struggle, spent, infidels, land, resilience, against, thrive, and harden. However, the story really goes back to prompt #2 at The Sunday Whirl, for which I wrote the poem Resilient on May 1, 2011. Three months later, I continued the story with I Am Resilient.

Posted for day 50 in 100 Days of Spring – 2013.