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This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:48 pm
by Janet 77
This Is Not An Elegy
At 14 I questioned everything.
Everything never answered.
At 19 I watched my life blow away
like an old barn
in a hurricane,
graceless and immediate.
At 30 I knew
exactly who I was;
mother times two
preacher’s wife
mother’s daughter
Daddy’s half-orphaned child.
If I only made sense
in relation to others
it was sense enough.
50 came quicker than expected.
Children grown and relocated,
preacher dead and gone,
orphaned on all fronts.
Let the floundering begin.
Marry again
in haste.
Move a time or two.
Smile
until my heart goes numb.
I never saw 60 coming.
Everything boomeranged
bringing every answer
I never knew
I didn’t want.
Today it is Now O’clock
and I am here,
a weary patchwork
of stars and poetry
held together by mis-
matched thread
frayed edges and dreams
that have seen
better days.
Today
I know everything
and she’s a bitch.
Re: This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:25 pm
by Tracy Mitchell
So 'everything' comes clear -- what a solid ending to a marvelous poem. Your expressiveness is so evident here.
And welcome back.
T
Re: This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 5:26 pm
by DocCon
This was powerful and great! It made me laugh and nod and say yes and yes again. Well done.
Re: This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:11 pm
by Sharon Leigh
I feel this poem, I'm on about 50
This bit I loved:
"At 19 I watched my life blow away
like an old barn
in a hurricane,
graceless and immediate."
It's the "graceless" that got me. It's so true. So many times there is no dignity involved with life's caprice. Well written.
Re: This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:34 am
by ajduclos
I feel it more intimately than I'd like to let on - wonderful writing.
Aj
Re: This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:11 am
by Lecram06
Janet_R wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:48 pm
This Is Not An Elegy
At 14 I questioned everything.
Everything never answered.
At 19 I watched my life blow away
like an old barn
in a hurricane,
graceless and immediate.
At 30 I knew
exactly who I was;
mother times two
preacher’s wife
mother’s daughter
Daddy’s half-orphaned child.
If I only made sense
in relation to others
it was sense enough.
50 came quicker than expected.
Children grown and relocated,
preacher dead and gone,
orphaned on all fronts.
Let the floundering begin.
Marry again
in haste.
Move a time or two.
Smile
until my heart goes numb.
I never saw 60 coming.
Everything boomeranged
bringing every answer
I never knew
I didn’t want.
Today it is Now O’clock
and I am here,
a weary patchwork
of stars and poetry
held together by mis-
matched thread
frayed edges and dreams
that have seen
better days.
Today
I know everything
and she’s a bitch.
Janet,
The lines " bringing every answer / I never knew / I didn't want" told me to listen to this poet who faces fear fearlessly and to trust her. You grabbed me my the throat but not to strangle me. Merci, Marcel
Re: This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:18 am
by HLemma
Wow. This is courageous writing. Thank you.
Re: This Is Not An Elegy - Day 13
Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:03 pm
by Deb
ajduclos wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:34 am
I feel it more intimately than I'd like to let on - wonderful writing.
Aj
Me too. Powerful writing that speaks to me in heaps. Very well done.
~Deb