Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse #168
Come join us!
For a while I climbed the ladder,
not realizing I’d placed it
against the wrong house. The window
I tried to look into was a mirror.
I fell backward into the world.
-Stephen Dunn
I lost you before you were truly gone
Like money at the races or bullets from a fool’s gun
Some hurts are hard to recover from
and some places just
cannot be left behind
a lost little girl
that had never left home
still stands at the curb of a busy street
and hesitates to go
speaking up and walking away are harder than they look
no one ever explained that to me
I just learned it as I went
You see, silence preaches louder than you think
Skinned up knees leave a more enduring mark
Than road signs warning, slippery when wet
Those scars join us in the journey
We carry them along
Like children too tired to walk any further
That is how we learn strength is many things
More than lifting steal and running far
Yes, I lost you before you were truly gone
Like whiskey from a cracked bottle
That always leaves a mess behind
It took me years to see how lost that truly left me
Yet to find our true direction
We must first realize we are lost.
Dayummmmmm girl! This is brilliant. Sad, true, brave, all that. Yes.
ReplyDeleteA well observed look at the human condition, where discovery of the self is the beginning of everything else. ♥
ReplyDeleteSo beautifully presents life's journey, skinned knees and all!
ReplyDelete"Skinned up knees leave a more enduring mark / Than road signs warning, slippery when wet" -- Oooh! Oooh! That is so, so good.
ReplyDeleteA fun poem, Carrie. I like the ending but I also especially like the line " . . . learned it as I went." Most folk do that, even if they've studied and read books and watched it al on YouTube still we learn by doing most. The good and the bad.
ReplyDelete..
I feel as though I slipped into the far reaches of your mind, personal and private emotions shared. Stunning, Ms. Carrie-girl.
ReplyDeleteLostness expressed. The heart-cry of this poem.
ReplyDeleteThe whiskey from the cracked bottle that always leaves a mess is such a vivid image of a feeling.
ReplyDeleteWow, Carrie, your wisdom deepens, as does your poetry - which is the journey, my friend, as you know. We figure our journey out through our poems, which leave a trail to tell those following us what we have learned. This was wonderful to write, likely painful to live - but look at how you have bloomed!
ReplyDelete“Like whiskey from a cracked bottle
ReplyDeleteThat always leaves a mess behind
It took me years to see how lost that truly left me”
Powerful.
Luv the summary in your end line
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday
Much💜love
Walking away and speaking up is hard ...no one explained that to me either...Some hurt
ReplyDeletecan never be overcome completely....Wonderful poem that many of us can relate to
What a brilliant poem! The flow and the way it walks along the heart <3
ReplyDeleteYet to find our true direction
ReplyDeleteWe must first realize we are lost.
Love the close Carrie! Very philosophical and very true. One can only pick the chosen direction once it is duly and correctly addressed.
Hank
Love the take on strength: being lost is a test in itself.
ReplyDeleteOh the lessons life bring us can be hard, but yet if we allow we grow stronger. Beautiful, brilliant writing.
ReplyDeleteSimply stunning! So many great lines combining to a powerful message. I also love the quote from Stephen Dunn
ReplyDelete"Yes, I lost you before you were truly gone
ReplyDeleteLike whiskey from a cracked bottle
That always leaves a mess behind"
Brilliant writing, Carrie, with a punch ending!