The Poetry of Linda Swift

Linda Swift is a dear friend and probably better known for her fiction, especially her Civil War novel, This Time Forever, http://amzn.com/B00NINMI8I, which has been made into a movie.

 

But Linda also writes poetry, and has a book out titled, Potpourri of Poems. http://amzn.com/B00WUNS9X0  I thought I’d post one of her poems here. (With her permission of course!)

Linda and I write fiction but she swears that poetry is the window to the soul of the poet. Maybe she’s right.

For in our poetry we express ourselves – unguarded and without the mask of fiction. It is our deepest thoughts, frustrations, and joys, As writers, we play with words, but as poets we allow that private side of us to have a voice.

I hope you enjoy this poem. It spoke to my soul and left me in tears for I identified with Naomi Stuart.

TENDER

(For Naomi Stuart)

She tended him with quiet dignity,

Became his buffer when the crowd pressed through

And would have drained his waning energy

As he was always wont to let them do.

She stood in his great shadow till he fell

Then like a sentry guarded where he lay

And though she succored him and willed him well

She could not keep relentless sleep at bay.

And so he slept and spoke no more, but she

Still nurtured him as she had tended flowers.

Who knows with what distress and agony

She kept her vigil through those long last hours?

And now the final sleep has claimed his life;

What then for her, the faithful tender, wife?

Note: Naomi was the wife of Jesse Stuart

Jesse Hilton Stuart (August 8, 1906 – February 17, 1984) was an American writer who is known for writing short stories, poetry, and novels about Southern Appalachia. Born and raised in Greenup County, Kentucky, Stuart relied heavily on the rural locale of northeastern Kentucky for his writings.Stuart was named the poet laureate of Kentucky in 1954.

Please visit Linda at:

Linda Swift
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/linda.swift.359
My Website: http://www.lindaswift.net/
My Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Linda+Swift+Books

I’ve reblogged this from Among the Waters, which is the blog of my local writer’s group. Linda Swift is not local but she is a wonderful friend of mine.