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Open Poetry #32
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Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa

0 posted 2004-06-13 05:17 PM


What if one day you no more can speak
and you awake reaching out for a dream  
stuck in a pose with your hand in the cold
and a big gaping hole in your soul?

What if one day there’s no one to care
if shadows are breathing your air
and creeping around somewhere in your brain  
like a lion intent on its prey?

What if one day there’s nowhere to hide
the belief you still have in a lie
and it stands as a face in every crowd
till your eyes turn down to the ground?  

What if one day hope flutters and dies  
and you can’t find the will to smile?
What if earth’s dirt sticks to your heart
and you can’t run away from your past?  

What if there’s no one to answer “what if”
and you can’t find the edge of a cliff
from which you can fall to finalize all
and know that a dream is no more?  

If I was wise I would ask you to see
beyond your perceptions of real  
but tonight I am tired and need to retire
so what if I just say, “Goodnight”?

Helen


© Copyright 2004 Helen - All Rights Reserved
Kevo
Member
since 2004-06-02
Posts 466
Navarro County, Texas, USA
1 posted 2004-06-13 05:27 PM


Fear of being alone.  Who wants that?  It seems as though people we care about most take us for granted the most.  Is this what the poem is about?  If not I am off the mark.  The feeling I get is that someone has taken you for granted.  I love the way this poem reads, lamenting, yet taking a stand at the same time.  It is beautifully crafted and and really hit me.  Please let me know if I'm off the mark on my interpretation.

Thanks,

Kevin

Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
2 posted 2004-06-13 05:30 PM


Goodnight, dear Helen.  May your dreams be sweet and tomorrow wake you fresh.  
Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa
3 posted 2004-06-13 05:59 PM


Hi, Kevin.  The poem goes a bit deeper than being taken for granted.  Perhaps it's an assessment of the people around me who are so taken up with their own pleasure that they do not have the time or inclination to be concerned about others.  I feel like a misfit because I am concerned so the poem speaks to me and tells me to look beyond their actions and attitudes.  They have the right to be as they wish and perhaps there's a reason for their behaviour of which I'm not aware.

Beyond the facades and beyond the ego there is a child (soul)still growing to maturity and so I must be tolerant and look beyond my perceptions.

It's still not great having shadows creeping around in your brain but, at the end of the day, they're mine and I have to deal with them although it would be nice if someone noticed and said, "I know".

It's rather hard explaining but I hope this makes sense.  Thanks for the read.

Martie - Goodnight, dear Martie.  New days are new beginnings.

passing shadows
Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
4 posted 2004-06-17 12:47 PM


I see this every day...I understand

mostly though, people are good

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