sure there are things i miss
the color of sky in anchorage at midnight
the eyes of a girl i never quite met
the forgotten sound of my mother’s voice
none of it was gravity enough
to hold me in place
and so i wandered among you
straddling two worlds on the razor’s edge
of my own incomplete sanity
i fell often, cut and bleeding
through the fabric of a shroud
no one else could see
this wasn’t my decision
it was my destiny
and no amount of fighting
kept me whole
the whisper howl of the wind in a pine dressed forest
the warm slide of good whiskey down a life-parched throat
the crackle of a fire lighting words on a page
i was cold and silent night
played loud on the radio
in a room arranged to be
my last companion
i grew up in a house
the color of empty
raised by ghosts of worn out intention
i laughed like a child
until i was thirty
and then i started leaving in a circle of return
all the things i never had
packed into tattered pockets
the call of a loon on a star scattered lake
the warmth on my skin of a sun gone to silver
the weightless cry of a hawk soaring through hunger
one saved letter pressed tight
against the thump
of my own flawed heart
proof of existence
in a shadow
shaped by please
.
.
.
Linking in over at dVersePoets for Poetics today,
where Grace has us writing poems from the perspective of the dead.
.
.
.
November 4th, 2014 at 9:05 am
the laughed like a child til thirty stanza got me…i think it was the leaving in circles…as i see a spiral outward or inward…the saved letter as well…i have a few…smiles.
November 4th, 2014 at 9:24 am
there’s a story here. a story i’m a bit unsure of, a story i keep rereading. it’s full of secrets and i have my own ideas about what it’s telling me. a story of what we let go of and why. the lies we tell ourselves. be my interpretation right or wrong, i like this very much. very much. my own life-parched throat craves good whisky.
November 4th, 2014 at 10:52 am
dang this is good, one that you fall deeper into each time its read. loved the leaving in a circle of return.
November 4th, 2014 at 4:08 pm
oh my, I love this
November 4th, 2014 at 7:23 pm
How terribly sad this is Kelly ~ I admire the style of writing, as if from two perspectives ~ Still the emptiness and gaping silence from the flawed heart can be heard ~
Thanks for linking up and wishing you happy week ~
November 4th, 2014 at 9:20 pm
I really like this, Kelly – the title, the wistful tone, the opening stanza. A great poem!
November 4th, 2014 at 9:21 pm
this is an epic write; I read it twice and the emotions pulls the reader deeper the second time around’ the emptiness and sadness is felt… Amazing capture.
November 4th, 2014 at 9:24 pm
Kelly,I think this is my favorite poem of yours that I have seen. Excellent images, filled with very real feeling, poignant, honest. There are some excellent stanzas that beg to be read again and again. A masterpiece!!
November 4th, 2014 at 10:34 pm
Such an honest poem, a house the colour of empty… so heartbreaking. I can really feel the isolation in this and so cleverly written.
November 4th, 2014 at 11:49 pm
I am glad to see that you used a first person narrative and it has come out so beautiful, so much richness and life – loved your piece.
November 4th, 2014 at 11:52 pm
oh heck…that last line made my heart heavy…
also…
i grew up in a house
the color of empty
raised by ghosts of worn out intention… too many do i think…
November 5th, 2014 at 12:02 am
What a groovy piece. Love the fifth & sixth stanzas, and the form.
November 5th, 2014 at 12:40 am
Oh the regret when you cannot quite leave or stay.. There has to be a reason for a dead man being where he is. I love the contrasts between his being and the way all the thing he miss…
November 5th, 2014 at 1:50 am
This reminds me of the passage of life.. and the illusion of time that comes with that.. along with age.. and all the ‘recommended’ pitfalls of life…
But what i find now.. as long as body..mind..heart..soul..spirit and beyond with existential of all that is..MORE.. continues to refresh…
now stays as now..
simply true in feeling now..
with no regrets or fear of death
or life.. as now truly can last forever
now..
for now
@least..and that is hope..for now.. for now..
at most..as that truly is all..
there is
is
now.:)
November 5th, 2014 at 4:12 am
How you bring about a story, filled with melancholy and emptiness, in your words is brilliant. The perspective has a coldness to it like death, which is contradicted by the use of words like warmth and fire. A ravaging ride through emotions.
November 5th, 2014 at 5:32 am
I found this poem sad and still feel your distress at your friend’s death.Well expressed grief !
November 5th, 2014 at 9:16 am
“i grew up in a house
the color of empty”
Za zing…that one hit home for me.
November 5th, 2014 at 11:09 am
This is a very wise poem; I think I’ll keep a copy. I like a “star scattered lake and nothing like the laughter of a child and a ‘world shaped by please’..
November 5th, 2014 at 11:46 am
Your poem is filled with emptiness and beauty, sadness and missed opportunities. It takes my heart and squeezes it.
janet
November 5th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
This one is truly brilliant, a real splatter of poetics that not only rocks the prompt but by the third reading rocks our emotions; terrific use of form, & myriads of word smithing imagery; like the line /straddling two worlds on the razor’s edge/ a ghost’s timeless plight, not ready to let go, to move on.
November 5th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Wow, such a sad and powerful poem. The part about the parents being ghosts with worn out intention really caught my attention. Having weary parents would be extremely difficult for a child.
November 5th, 2014 at 8:27 pm
This prompt has sparked some excellent poetry; none more so than this beautiful piece.
November 5th, 2014 at 10:35 pm
The part about the loon and the hawk really caught my attention..quite the image and symbolism in that stanza..the missed opportunities in life.
November 6th, 2014 at 5:35 am
the sound words in italics leave such a deep mark of sorrow, emptiness and a wistful lingering for the life already left behind…
November 8th, 2014 at 12:59 am
ah… the color of empty… ~
November 14th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Honestly – I think this is magnificent. Thank you for solidifying my thoughts about beginning to write poetry again.
Dani