i would have loved to go out with you tonight to the boardwalk at navarre, but there's an opposing magnet inside of my gut forcing me away. i stand outside with the cell to my ear and as you wait for an answer, the crickets sing over my silence. they are the only reason the sound of impossible isn’t entirely haunting, for the extra sounds outside of us distract me, remind me that there’s something more beyond you.
i imagine the tiki torches lit as the happy-go-lucky couples pass by us and we hold hands, pretending to be one of them...when truthfully we relate more to the torches, burning - as if infinitely - in a constant state of flicker and feigned fades. why do we dance among the others? we could never move in synchronization with them even if our life depended on it, but why - why are we still on fire?
we’ll never burn out. even if we did die, we’d spring back to life; for the moon shines on most nights and even if the clouds cover it occasionally…there’s always that inevitable chance we’d be able to see the truth again: this bond is an immortal inferno in a constant state of dying; we are the energy omitted from confusion’s candle, sending scents of vanilla and cucumber and all of those ridiculous body creams you covered yourself in. the stench of longing fills the air yet the crickets…they’re doing all of the talking.
you don’t beg me to join you, but you persistently attempt to convince; you inject pictures in my mind as if there’s a needle stemming from that camera we always carried every time we - and it’s not that I want to cut you out of my mind, but we’ve gone through so much; you’ve - i’ve - and though i can forgive you in my heart, why have my lungs imploded, why have they left me breathless, wilting, as if a temporary rose? but your faults! why are they permanent weeds devouring what made us beautiful?
your hands were once warm and comforting, but since we split…there’s ashes and thorns and skulls and photos and fate piled on top and there’s a city crushed by your abusive fists; a downtown coastline swallowed by the tidal waves of your tantrums - and again i understand why regained memories send shivers down my spine. i ask myself how could he sincerely love me when he ruined what made me happiest…even without him?
since then…i’ve been terrified of trusting you, of closing my eyes and taking a deep breath and believing there’s something beyond calamity, something beyond the hazel and the embrace and the rush - the intensity and…and…my explanations are futile; things will never be the same. we will never be those people interlocked by the hands of sincerity and mutual smiles, because there are no trenches between them full of fulfilled fears and forgotten feelings…like there are between us.
and as i instinctively hang up on you without warning, i wonder did we know this pain before knowing love?
Author notes
s i d e w a y s h o u r g l a s s
A contest entry
- Introspection: a series-- auditions by unraveled.
700 points, ended August 25, 20 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comment por favor.
Comments
1 - 18 of 18
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I loved this!
To me, it almost sounded like a monologue for a play. It had that right balance between poetic tone and a style of writing more from a novel. It felt like a very heartfelt, key moment in the play. I even tried reading it one time out loud, and it sounded great...
Keep up the awesome work!
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What an expel of a kind of love that is timeless. All "true" love will wax and wane with the moon, all "true" love will know times of drought and times of rain. The speakers honest voice pushes this poem along. Great write!
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it is impossible to know the pain of love before the pleasures of it, unfortunately. this was wonderfully penned
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the crickets sing over my silence
beautiful. your technical skills are amazing. you use alliteration without it being overly wordy.
yet the crickets…they’re doing all of the talking.
i think my favourite parts of this whole piece have to do with the crickets.
everything is great though.
thanks for entering.
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a maze ing
so much depth to this write "the happy-go-lucky couples pass by us and we hold hands, pretending to be one of them" is something so many can relate to.
I personally took to the lines "why are we still on fire? / we'll never burn out. "
the way you say how much you want to be with each other but no one is talking (3rd stanza) is extremely creative, so well done with that.
another part I loved was "a downtown coastline swallowed by the tidal waves ". quotes like the ones I listed here are things that make this type of prose amazing.
the story line kept me attentive and it the stanzas transitioned well.
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yes
how the fuck did cass get a bunny?
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lmao she told me the other day that ever since she's discovered the column with the new emoticons, she's been using them.
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oh trust me, matt knows. just go look at his guestbook
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hahaha
way to go!
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"we relate more to the torches, burning- as if infinitely- in a constant state of flicker and feigned fades." lovely image.
You have a conversational feel mixed into all of your writing, it is unique and different from most others. It's in phrases like "they're doing all of the talking" and "i instinctively hang up on you without warning" that it is really noticeable. Not a bad thing, but something that differentiates you from others.
This was a really good piece. I enjoyed it.
Oh, my vote for Introspection, is yes
-Cassidy
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Here is your fucking 3 clappies...
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I really, really like this. It's true feeling. You're very talented. I know which paragraph is my favorite - it's the one that starts out, "we'll never burn out." they're all very imaginative, though.
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'we are the energy omitted from confusion’s candle, sending scents of vanilla and cucumber and all of those ridiculous body creams you covered yourself in.'
love the detail in that bit. this is intricate and sad in a very soft way. great job and best of luck.
I hope everything works out for you. :]
*hugs*
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...Sorry
This is amazing, great write -
Wow this was really good my favorite part was the sixth stanza
and the last two lines were amazing great way to end it
Thank you so much for entering my contest and Good luck
-♥Amy♥ -
wow just wow. no words.
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i agree with sarah.
one of your best pieces to date.
phenomenal, tyler.
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Oh my gosh.
This hurts.
When I was first reading, I was trying to choose which paragraph was my favorite, but after a while I made myself stop and just read your words, and wow.
I love all of the different tones in this, like a stream of consciousness, transitioning from one thought process to the next.
"in a constant state of flicker and feigned fades. why do we dance among the others? we could never move in synchronization with them even if our life depended on it, but why - why are we still on fire?" That is one of my favorite parts. Love the use of the word of all the f sounds in the first part.
Also, I love the fourth paragraph. It's so fragmented, and yet it somehow works, like the confusion of the situation at hand doesn't allow for clear thoughts.
Magnificent. Truly.
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