03.02.2026

In response to dVerse Poets Pub:
https://wp.me/p1GTyJ-8N0

Close Enough

I read simile as smile,
like my eyes preferred kindness
over instruction.

Meaning slipped sideways,
like soap in warm hands,
like truth laughing mid-sentence.

I compared grief to weather,
hope to stubborn weeds,
memory to snow that won’t stay put.

If this is wrong,
it’s wrong like laughter at funerals,
like love arriving early.

Sometimes the mind trips,
like a sentence bending—
and lands exactly
where it needs to be.

— Maggie
The Afterlove Voice 💫


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21 responses to “Close Enough”

  1. Ron. Avatar

    Awesome work. Only one -slightly- off line (for me, anyway): I want everybody laughing at my funeral.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you Ron 💜 I love that — laughter feels like the highest kind of remembrance.

      Like

  2. Lynne Avatar
    Lynne

    enjoyed this very much! clever and endearing.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you so much Lynne 💜

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Arcadia Maria Avatar
    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you so much 💜

      Like

  4. Dora Avatar

    Blown away, Maggie, by your most apt poem on similes and smiles, one trading on the other like a pair of rowdy but charming twins! I was sold on this brilliant poem the moment I read this exquisite lines:

    Meaning slipped sideways,
    like soap in warm hands,
    like truth laughing mid-sentence.

    Bravo!! 🙌🙌

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Maggie Avatar

      “Rowdy but charming twins” — I’m going to keep that 😊 Thank you for such a generous reading and for noticing those lines.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. kim881 Avatar

    I adore your poem, Maggie, which reminded me of how I taught my students to spell the word ‘simile’. I especially love the similes ‘meaning slipped sideways, like soap in warm hands, like truth laughing mid-sentence’. And I agree:
    ‘Sometimes the mind trips,
    like a sentence bending—
    and lands exactly
    where it needs to be.’

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you Kim 🤍 It means a great deal to know the poem connected with your experience as a teacher. Sometimes those slips really do carry us exactly where we need to land.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. kim881 Avatar

        You’re most welcome, Maggie.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. poetisatinta Avatar

    I love this work Maggie especially your opening stanza🩷

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you so much Ange 💜

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Björn Rudberg (brudberg) Avatar

    The simile and smile is just perfect.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you so much Bjőrn 💜

      Liked by 1 person

  8. rog Avatar

    I would love to have laughter at my funeral. with people remembering the fun we had

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you Rog . And I would want that too.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. yvettemcalleiro Avatar

    Fantastic poem, Maggie!

    Yvette M Calleiro :-)
    http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you so much Yvette 💜❤️

      Like

  10. shaun tenzenmen Avatar

    “Meaning slipped sideways, like soap in warm hands,” as others have mentioned, is a lovely simile of a feeling that surely everyone has experienced. Nice write 👏

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Maggie Avatar

      Thank you so much Shaun 💜😊

      Like

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