Life
Can we speak of our lives with intimacy
Let the stories and the pain unfold
A retelling of cries amid the lies
Or is it like trying to keep the memories inside
Like building the levee up further
To stop the incoming tide
We walk around with our heartbreaks
So many apparent on our sleeves
Often we just grin and bear it
We never learnt to say please
The silence becomes another person
We become adept at introductions
Passing the conversation over
Hoping they will take the lead
The hurt is carried like an old suitcase
One you keep under the bed
You only take it out on rare occasions
Like that leech left over in the jar
One you use when you need to be bled
To speak of your life with intimacy
Is to leave nothing unsaid
To unburden your litany of regrets
Is to flay the skin from your bones
Feel again those metaphoric thrown stones
And wish you were completely alone
Literally better off dead
You may be the only one left standing
But at least you can recognise who you are
The mirrors have shattered
And even your ghost cannot hide
It has been waiting forever
Until your shade showed another side
*****
This image was taken in St.Mary’s churchyard, Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the UK. When I looked at it later, this poem came out, written in a continuous stream, as a response to it.
The only thing I can do is to leave it here and perhaps that is all there is to say, all that is needed to be said, while we find our courage to live well.
I have paired this work with the song “Ghosts That I Knew” by Mumford and Sons, as it is a song about coming to terms with loss and haunting regrets, which is what I felt when I took the image that accompanies this poem.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1eZLCxvpDI
And if you would like to see more of my work, have a look at my website at:
Life
Can we speak of our lives with intimacy
Let the stories and the pain unfold
A retelling of cries amid the lies
Or is it like trying to keep the memories inside
Like building the levee up further
To stop the incoming tide
We walk around with our heartbreaks
So many apparent on our sleeves
Often we just grin and bear it
We never learnt to say please
The silence becomes another person
We become adept at introductions
Passing the conversation over
Hoping they will take the lead
The hurt is carried like an old suitcase
One you keep under the bed
You only take it out on rare occasions
Like that leech left over in the jar
One you use when you need to be bled
To speak of your life with intimacy
Is to leave nothing unsaid
To unburden your litany of regrets
Is to flay the skin from your bones
Feel again those metaphoric thrown stones
And wish you were completely alone
Literally better off dead
You may be the only one left standing
But at least you can recognise who you are
The mirrors have shattered
And even your ghost cannot hide
It has been waiting forever
Until your shade showed another side
*****
This image was taken in St.Mary’s churchyard, Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the UK. When I looked at it later, this poem came out, written in a continuous stream, as a response to it.
The only thing I can do is to leave it here and perhaps that is all there is to say, all that is needed to be said, while we find our courage to live well.
I have paired this work with the song “Ghosts That I Knew” by Mumford and Sons, as it is a song about coming to terms with loss and haunting regrets, which is what I felt when I took the image that accompanies this poem.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1eZLCxvpDI
And if you would like to see more of my work, have a look at my website at: