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Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion

0 posted 2000-09-06 09:19 PM


Zombies of Suburbia

For years there was nothing.
It filled us up with time.
We sat across our table,
Unseeing, unfeeling,
Lay in our marriage bed
Back to back, never touching.
We had both died together
But someone forgot to bury us
So our bodies carried on,
We of the Wandering
Zombies of Suburbia.
There were plenty of others like us,
So we thought we were okay.

We went to the annual cocktail party
Stopped after two glasses of California wine,
Nibbled on low fat hors d’oeuvres,
Hired the popular gardener,
Had two-point-five kids,
Sent them to good schools,
Never got visibly angry,
Drove the right cars.

But at night when we came home
only this big house existed,
it swallowed us up, greedily
feeding on the nothingness
that was us.

Now.  Today.  I feel too much,
Water won’t stop flowing from my eyes.
I see humans walking around at airports
Looking lost, happy, old, sad,
And I wonder about them,
Thinking it is too hard to be alive.

I rage.
I’ve cried everyday
For three months.
I love again,
all emotions
living.


© 2000 Corinne Bailey



© Copyright 2000 Corinne - All Rights Reserved
passing shadows
Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
1 posted 2000-09-06 09:23 PM


this is the kind of stuff I can relate to, see it every day...very well written perspective Corinne
Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648

2 posted 2000-09-06 09:55 PM


Even though it hurts it's better to be among the living again, isn't it, Corinne? Great expression this is!

Denise

Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
3 posted 2000-09-06 09:55 PM


Corinne, you wonderful poet you, this is REALLY REALLY well done!! There is nothing zombier than laying in bed back to back....
Marge Tindal
Deputy Moderator 5 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384
Florida's Foreverly Shores
4 posted 2000-09-06 10:56 PM


Corinne~
This is so good ...

A moving piece.
~*Marge*~




~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~
noles1@totcon.com



Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion
5 posted 2000-09-07 10:05 AM


Thank you, Passing Shadows, Denise, Balladeer and Marge. Sept 3rd would have been the 12th anniversary, plus was the first one since the big D, thoughts have been running in the past.

Corinne

Local Rebel
Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-21
Posts 5767
Southern Abstentia
6 posted 2000-09-07 10:18 AM


wow corrine...

this is really good.... fits right into a collection I'm going to have at my site... would be delighted if you would submit it!  

SEA
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 5 Tours
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 2000-01-18
Posts 22676
with you
7 posted 2000-09-07 10:23 AM


Corinne~ this is so sad....I see it every time I go down to the valley.....sorry to hear of your "D"....I hope that hurt heals soon..... -SEA

Live,Love,Laugh :) ~SueB


Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
8 posted 2000-09-07 10:27 AM


This is so fabulously penned, Corinne...

The fact saddens me though...

Excellent read... thanks for sharing...

regards,
sudhir

Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion
9 posted 2000-09-07 12:34 PM


Thank you, Local Rebel, I'd be honored, just send me the link!

Thank you, SEA and Sudhir, well, life is what it is. The odd thing is the swing from feeling nothing to this open exposure to emotions. Wasn't expecting it.

Corinne

Janet Marie
Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554

10 posted 2000-09-07 01:59 PM


For years there was nothing.
It filled us up with time.
We sat across our table,
Unseeing, unfeeling,
Lay in our marriage bed
Back to back, never touching.
We had both died together
But someone forgot to bury us
So our bodies carried on,
====================

I call it being content in my discontent ...
and somewhere along the line...
I just got really good at it.
sad but true ....

with your usual gift of grace...
you penned a heartstroke...
and a poem of reality for far too many
a "portrait in complacentcy" ...
exceptional, honest, work from you C,
I know you find healing and strength when you write
take care
jm


There are places inside our souls -
that have never been touched.
There are places inside our hearts -
that need to be loved this much.
~jm~


Local Rebel
Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-21
Posts 5767
Southern Abstentia
11 posted 2000-09-07 02:33 PM


This is one I've written on the same subject..

It was originally titled Undertow...

One Becomes a Woman Again in Dreams

© by Night Hawke

Minivanned waves of
Suburbia sucking
pulling in undertow
Drowning
swelling crests
of middle class serfdom
through another day of
happy
meal hell

Blondish brandishers
of overstated implanted
life jackets
bobbing up, down
stepfording in step
selfing themselves
feigning they aren't
sucking
out to sea
turn into the water
in which they drown
the next cummer
wondering how
they drifted so far

And tonite
one becomes a woman

again
in
dreams


the URL to my site is Insurrection


Wilfred Yeats
Member Elite
since 2000-08-04
Posts 2704
Wilmington, Delaware
12 posted 2000-09-07 03:24 PM


I'm learning how truly scary it can be to read some of the poetry here- The thoughts you've expressed look like they could have come from my own diary (If I kept one) truly.
= My god is a loving god - a just god - and does not do dumb. I believe yours is the same - I will continue to work and pray we both come alive as we've a right to soon
Great writing Corinne

Paula Finn
Member Ascendant
since 2000-06-17
Posts 5546
missouri
13 posted 2000-09-07 03:31 PM


Sometimes getting through the pain is the only thing that shows us we are truly alive...and we are stronger for it...thanks for sharing what must be a difficult and painful time...and please know you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion
14 posted 2000-09-07 05:00 PM


Janet Marie, I got real good at it too, so good that I didn't realize life was passing me by, it's like a form of death.  Coming out of it is essential to life, but it ain't no picnic.  Still, the rewards are great.  Thank you for your kind, gentle words.  peace to you.

Local Rebel/Night Hawke - incredible poem and such strong parallels we have!  I'll check out your sight and submit the poem, although I've since revised it a bit. Thank you!

Wilfred, it's true what they say, we aren't really alone in our experiences, we share them all at one time or another if we live life at all. But the road to healing is full of potholes and sometimes we even wish for the life we once had, it seems easier than feeling everything sometimes.  That's when we must remember that we are feeling because we are alive.  Thank you for your kind words.

Paula, thank you, I'm much happier now, but with happiness and love and emotions come the price of sadness, too.

Corinne

Mark Bohannan
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-06-21
Posts 7269
In the winds of Cherokee song
15 posted 2000-09-07 05:45 PM




This is way to sad for one that has shown us the happier side of life.  I am hoping things work out for you and when you are there just let me know and I'll take a ride in your hum vee with ya.  Said so powerfully and so well....the pain and misery are all to well felt.

Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion
16 posted 2000-09-07 09:00 PM


Revised Version -

For years there was nothing.
It filled us up with time.
We sat across our table,
Unseeing, unfeeling,
Or in our marriage bed
Back to back, never touching.
We had both died together
But someone forgot to bury us
So our bodies carried on,
We of the Wandering
Zombies of Suburbia.

We went to the annual cocktail party
Stopped after two glasses of wine,
Nibbled on low fat hors d’oeuvres,
Hired the trendy gardener,
Had two-point-five kids,
Sent them to good schools,
Never got visibly angry,
Drove the right cars.

But at night when we came home
Only this big house existed,
It swallowed us up, greedily
Feeding on the nothingness
That was us.

Now.  Today.  I feel too much,
Water won’t stop flowing from my eyes.
I see people walking around airports
Lost, happy, old, sad,
I wonder about them,
Thinking it is hard to be alive.
As each one passes by
I become an empathetic sponge
A part of them departs,
Enters me, taking from me.

I rage.
I’ve cried everyday
For three months,
I love again.
Whenever I am tempted
To shut down
I call upon
All emotions living.

© 2000 Corinne Bailey


Severn
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-17
Posts 7704

17 posted 2000-09-07 10:10 PM


Hey Corinne my friend

nice to see you!



Sadly wonderful work...or wonderfully sad.

You are a poet with a gift you know.

Hugs

K

"He looked across the
silky surface of the Severn...
it was a famously difficult
river with fierce tides..."


From Jack Maggs

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