Poem of the Day: “Giants” by Mary Soon Lee, Frequent Contributor

Giants
Mary Soon Lee

They were the pillars
that held up my sky,
the gods who carried me
on their shoulders,
or crawled across the carpet
with me perched on their back.

Now there is nothing left:
no face carved in the hillside,
no marble column, no temple,
no streets named for them,
no candles lit for them,
no obituary in the paper.

The thunder long past,
and only I, still shaken,
struggling to remember
the shape of their hands,
the words with which
they said good night.

Poet’s Notes: The poem's giants were my parents. Despite what the poem implies, I am not the only one who still misses them.

Editor’s Note:  I love the conceit and sentiment here.  It is sad but true how the dead--even dead loved ones--fade from memory.  “Giants” was first published in Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2014, Vol. XX, No. 2 and was a finalist in the recent Songs of Eretz Poetry Award Contest.