To Broaden My Perceptions
I don't recall my hand being held by anyone,
To make me feel safe and protected.
In fact I was made to feel I was in the way...
If it wasn't demanded that I'd take out the garbage,
Or carry ten gallon cans of oil to 'fetch'...
To heat the oil burners in a home I left,
When I was eighteen years old.
I even gave myself birthday parties.
And 'pretended' my parents attended,
Any of my school graduations.
Even though they didn't.
But that didn't stop my love for them.
To then be accused,
I was abandoning 'my' responsibilities.
When I declared I had 'had' it!
I was the oldest child.
Not anybody's father.
I had already grown older and wiser beyond my years.
To know what being abandoned meant.
I just got tired of being used.
So I left to let the military do that!
And glad I did to broaden my perceptions.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
To the father who wasn't there
Here's to the father who wasn't there
After all these years
I've always known that you didn't care
I met you once at the park when I was three
You left fast
In a hurry
And abandoned my mom and me
You stopped by my mom's front step
She said, 'Adam's not home from school yet'
'Just tell him I'm dead', dad said
Even though you were never around
I've always known where you are
Stealing, dealing, or behind bars
Why should I allow your absence leave me with scars?
You did your crimes
Served your time
But never provided me with a dime
I never heard 'I'm proud of you, son'
I never got a phone call or a birthday card
You weren't there for my graduation
Or when I bought my first car
You wouldn't recognize me now that I'm grown
Why would you care?
You left me all alone
How can I love someone that I've never known?
Finally, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes
But most of all
Thank God I'm not like you!
poem by Adam Windseth
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Life Passes Us By All Too Soon
I wasn't sure what was around the corner
In fact my head was up there on high
Never had I seen it all coming
But one day I suddenly opened my eyes
Life Passes Us By All Too Soon-
Hand in hand we both walked along
Your smile meant everything to me
How I recall all those years we spent
And now I'm left to only believe
Life Passes Us By All Too Soon-
I never gave it much a thought I admit
Like a child I never gave it much care
One day that all finally changed
When I turned for you and you wasn't there
Life Passes Us By All Too Soon-
So now I think back to those days gone
As I walk alone and think of you
Forget you never this is what I feel
But life has shown me something new
Life Passes Us By All Too Soon-
poem by Suelynn Walters
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Where's my dad?
Growing up without a dad wasn’t so bad.
I mean, You can’t miss what you never had.
It wasn’t until I got a little older
That I felt that soft tap on my shoulder.
That had me looking back on the past
Wondering where my dad was at.
I see my husband with our kids and I
Sometimes blink so that I won’t cry.
As I begin to realize
And start to ask why
I never had a dad to hold my hand
To show me what it’s like to trust a man
To wlk me to school or yell at my games
I’m left incomplete without even his name
I see my daughters with their dad
And start to recognize what I never had
Wondering what he might be like
If his name is Tom, Bobby, Dennis or Mike
Do I look like him?
Would he recognize me?
I wonder if I have his eyes
Or maybe I have his teeth.
What would it have been like to have him around
I wonder what he’d think of me now
I wonder if I’d make him proud
Would he tell me im beautiful and smart?
For his empty mantelpiece I’m his work of art?
Daddy I’ve missed you all these years
I’ve thought about you and shed some tears.
I wish I could have known you
Had you there to tell me what to do
Daddy I wish you were there to hold me
Keep me close, maybe console me.
I wish you had been there to protect me
Hug me kiss me and never reject me.
I know you didn’t know that I longed for you
And maybe you would have found me if you knew
I wonder how it feels to be held in daddy’s arms
Where I could feel safe and far from harm
To have you give me away on my wedding day
With all the words of wisdom I’d hear you say
I missed you on graduation day too
I looked into the stands but didn’t see you
I missed you when my children were born
I keep looking, waiting for you to walk through that door
But you didn’t come because you never knew
And Daddy, wherever you are – just know I love you.
poem by Miss Thang
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
In A Request To Be Left Alone
In a request to be left alone,
Is often demanded by one who contradicts.
I have made similar comments myself.
To only annoy someone,
By calling them too much...
Until they pretended not to be home.
As a child I would say, 'Leave me alone.'
Not expecting anyone to believe me.
Or have my wish condoned.
And when I am successfully left alone,
I began to feel quite lonely.
Not expecting a loneliness to be so overwhelming.
To request to be left alone,
Is often demanded by one who contradicts.
I have made similar comments myself.
To only annoy someone,
By calling them too much...
Until they pretended not to be home.
To be left alone...
Not expecting a loneliness,
Can be quite overwhelming.
And...
Contradicting as well.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Tatay
[To my Father, I Love You]
Under the heat of the sun or heavy rain,
I watched you plow and toil the ground,
That seems to me like it was yesterday,
Of those years we have nothing but agony;
With eight children, from twenty to five,
A widower at forty-five, you kept us alive,
But your dreams and high hopes you didn’t meet,
When the eldest began to separate;
For once in your life, it didn’t cross in your mind,
Until your youngest ones left you one by one,
And supported you with nothing but their outrage,
When you married someone, too young for your age;
But I learned to let go of my selfishness, my anger,
And admitted the fact that you’ve now grown older,
You need more help as you walk slower and slower,
While I am too far away to be with you any longer;
Yet, no matter how far the distance between you and me,
It is your love that I’ve always kept in mind,
So whenever you may be when your time will come,
Bring my love with you and forgive me for all that I’ve done.
poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Letter My Father Will Never See
if only one last time i could see you. if only one time i could tell you what i think. if only one time i could say what i've been thinking for all these years. if only i could just not care. if only it didn't hurt so much. if only i could say that you dont matter. if only i could tell you. if only one time you'd listen. if only you knew. if only i could tell you your an ass. if only i could say and put into words what you've put me through. if only you were around to say good job.
as a father you have failed. as a father you were never there. as a father you never held me. as a father you never cared. as a father you never gave me praise. as a father you never brushed my hair. as a father you didn't teach me about life. as a father you didn't teach me how to care. as a father you never showed me love. as a a father you you let me cower in the corner. as a father you scared the hell out of me every night of the week. as a father you came home drunk. as a father you didn't put me to bed. as a father you never gave me a hug as a father you were my worst night. however, for some reason i cant fathom your my father. and for the same reason i cant fathom how you earned the title when being a father was one thing that you never were and dont seem to want to be.
Forever Friend
For Mike Bird
1943 - 2005
My forever friend.
I never though I’d have to say
The words I did over you
As they lowered you slowly into the ground
But there was one else
To say them, only me.
We’d been friends
For over forty years
At times we were almost brothers
Many happy Christmases you spent with my wife and me.
You became part of our extended family
You were an only child
and when your parents passed away
We befriended each other
During troubles and hardships
Through the years that came our way
Our friendship was strong
Even when for some reason or another
We didn’t see each other for a while
We never argued or raised our voices
Whenever we disagreed
Which I recall, wasn’t often
I remember you only getting heated
When some publisher rejected me
Saying “The fools, can’t they see.”
They were my failures, but you took them to heart.
Whenever you succeeded
I was first to congratulate you
I am so proud to have had you as my friend
Words can’t express the sorrow that I felt
When they said you had gone
I wanted to be on my own
Go somewhere and cry
Unfortunately responsibilities made me pass that by
Your cousins all the time you were alive
They stayed away from you
Didn’t even want you in their homes
Then they heard you were dying
Out of the wood work they came
To see what they could get
Oh, what a shame
They never knew
You didn’t have a penny to your name
He wasn’t religious they proclaimed
So no priest was sought
We gathered in the chapel
Only seven people came
Someone read a eulogy
But they didn’t know the real you
And that was that
I was asked to say a few words
As they lowered your coffin into the ground
With a lump in my throat, eyes full of tears
In a voice choked and low
I asked God to look after and protect
Your immortal soul
I held your wake at my house
Where you had spent so many happy times
I talked about you to your cousins
And they found out more about you
Than they ever knew
When they left and I was alone with my thoughts
I said a silent prayer for you
You my forever friend
26-27 Jan 2007
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Circle
From parent and child
to friend to child to parent.
I've grown and reflecting back.
The circle is clear to me.
As a child looking up to them.
Then eye to eye
with the coming of age.
Still I looked up to them.
Many the role my parents played
guiding my course through life.
Their status with me
changing as older I grew.
Entering the world of adults
leaving adolescence behind.
Friends confidants
and equals they became.
When times my needs demanded
support direction advice.
Always they were there.
On my parents I could rely.
Taking my place as a parent.
Their wisdom a well I drew from.
Their strength
became a staff I leaned on.
One day to me
it was suddenly clear.
My path through life
followed the footprints they left.
When came the time
in their autumn years.
For safe haven they looked to me.
Their obligations I realized fulfilled.
It was for me now the time
to carry that load
they had gladly borne.
The circle had come full turn.
poem by Kurt Hearth
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
My Brother Bill
This is the sad true story about my brother Bill
who was four years older than me.
He was born and then tossed aside by his mother
who left him to his father’s parents to raise,
then promptly disappeared out of his life forever.
My grandparents brought him up
hoping his father would take care of him
when he returned from the war.
His father also my dad returned from the war
married with another son and didn’t want to know.
They gave him a nickname in private
so no one else would know.
In private, they always called him Dopey.
My sister and I were told
our grandparents had adopted him
and he was nothing to do with us.
When my dad’s parents died in 1958 and 59
plans were made to come back to England
where my mother’s parents were still alive
and leave Bill far behind.
Then as his mother had done eighteen years before
his father abandoned him as well.
For a while, he had to live on the streets
taking handout from where ever he could.
He was arrested for vagrancy and sent to jail.
Getting out he got himself a job and began to build a life.
He got married and started a family,
until one night he came home
and found his wife in bed with another man,
and a divorce followed and he was alone again.
Then after 25 years, his job vanished
and he had to find another.
One day in 2000, he got a telephone call
and did not know whether to believe it or not.
It was a call he never thought he would ever get,
a call from his younger brother - me.
As we talked on the phone, some truths came to pass
his brother and his sister did not know about him.
They were told he had been adopted
and were nothing to do with them.
However, I had found the truth,
which incensed my mother enough to disown me.
We met one another for the first time
after forty-two years in 2001 and again in 2002.
In 2003, this sad story ends,
in the March of that year
Bill succumbed to a heart attack.
His final words were a testament to his life.
No one loved me enough to care.
The sad truth is someone did
and that someone was me.
We never had enough time together,
circumstances kept us apart,
but he was my brother
and will remain in my heart.
2 November 2009
Authors Note:
The facts are as Bill told them to me. A sad refrain to a wonderful guy who was tainted by my parents as being bad and no good. If the truth were known he was probably better than the both of them. He was a guy who would give you the shirt of his back if you needed it. My brother Bill, may he now rest in peace.
DVH - 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Daddy Why Did You Leave
why put your trust in the ones you love and the ones you love hurts you the most, years I've waited for you to come home am 19 an am still waiting i had loved you so much until you left, my heart was crush, you made me find love in all the wrong places you made me get hurt, you made them hurt me, why weren't you there i cried each night praying that god would send back my daddy, i didn't had child hood days because of you, i didn't went my high school graduation cause of you i wanted you in my life so bad i still love you an i still MISS YOU DADDY WHY DID YOU LEAVE
poem by Nevika Springer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
When Love Dies
What first began with ecstacy continued for a while...
She captured every part of me with each seducing smile...
It's not that she intended this, yet that's how things turned out
And some would say that perfect bliss is what life's all about...
The weeks flew by, yet time stood still each moment we embraced
And I recall the utmost thrill of how her lips would taste...
I held her close, we stood as one, our hearts were beating fast...
So how was I to know our fun just wasn't meant to last?
She didn't call, she didn't write, I saw no reason why...
But then one night, I gained insight and then watched my love die...
And die it did, at first quite slow, for who wants love to end?
Its death struck me a mortal blow... I'm not the same, my friend...
A part of me, with love, died, too... How can I love again?
How can what's left of me pursue true love like trusting men?
So here I am, alone once more, no lips to kiss at all,
Indeed more lonely than before, since memories I recall...
How many years are left to live, if living's quite the word?
A broken heart, what can it give? To love would be absurd...
If I've one chance, then that's enough, perchance to raise the bar!
For broken hearts still yearn to love! That's just the way they are!
poem by Denis Martindale
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
My Friends Back In My Prime Years
My friends back in my prime years I never did disown
It's just that I live far from them and apart we have grown
We drank and played football together but our separate ways we've gone
And we have forged new friendships and life of course goes on.
My friends back in my prime years may now look a bit gray
And they might not know me or I might not know them if by chance we met today
In my memory they have remained young but in reality
The years have left their mark on them as the years have left their mark on me.
Old father time the aloof one to anyone doesn't bow
And some of my friends of my prime years may be grand parents now
Perhaps they now are showing their age and time has left them slow
They could run fast as I recall some twenty years ago.
My friends back in my prime years I may now not recognize
For time leaves it's mark on all of us I've come to realize
I drunk beer with them in the pub and with them played football
And that was many years ago as I can well recall.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Still believing lies
you told me i will never amount to nothing,
it's a lie i still believe,
i can't blame that i'm still a child,
even though at times i still feel like one,
everything that you did to me,
messed me up in more ways than i can say,
i know you didn't think twice,
about what you did to me,
you were only worried that you would get caught,
you knew it was wrong and you still did it,
now i'm left picking up the pieces,
and trying to fix my life the way i want it,
it's a struggle but i'm getting through it,
i'm still angery at what you did to me,
that would never go away,
like ppl say it will,
becuz i am reminded everytime i'm triggered,
it sad that a real man,
have to stand up and tell me,
that everything i'm going through,
was not my fault,
i continue to blame myself,
cuz it was what you told me,
i was sexy,
i make you feel a certain way,
i was a child,
how did i make you feel sexual towards me,
when i didn't even know what that was?
you made it my fault,
just so you won't feel bad,
about what you wanted to do,
i didn't deserve to be treated like a toy,
i didn't deserve to feel such fear,
for having and opinion,
that was different than yours,
but i did,
everything i felt,
i thought i deserved in some way,
the guilt, shame, and helplessness,
i carried it everyday,
and kinda didn't know why,
the more i open up,
the more i discover the person,
that i have been so afraid to get to know,
the more everything you said to me,
is starting to disappear.
poem by Mona Martinez
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Unlovable
Are my lips unkissable?
Are my eyes unlookable?
Is my skin untouchable?
Am I unlovable?
Cynical, jaded, faithless, disappointed, disillusioned, used
If I could take back all my sweat, my tears, my sex, my joy I would
My time, my love, my effort, passion, dedication
In case of mistaken identity I gave these things to you
If I sound angry, bitter, sad, infatuated, it's the truth
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, just a few
Stages of acceptance that it's really over
It's just so complicated and I'm stupid for believing in you
You make me feel like my father never loved me
You make me feel like the act of love is empty
Am I so unlovable?
Is my skin untouchable?
Do I remind you of a part of you that you don't like?
I had your back, I held you up, I told you you were good enough
It was not reciprocated, you kept affection and yourself apart
You fed your love to me like crumbs to pigeons in the park
Sometimes I think you're satisfied to see me begging like a dog
I wasn't armoured, you were king, I gave my everything
Because sometimes you showed me just a hint of you and then
For just a moment I romanticised the notion
I can take away the torment, I can love you like they never did
You make me feel like my father never loved me (you never loved me)
You make me feel like the act of love is empty (I felt so empty)
Am I so unlovable?
Is my skin untouchable?
Do I remind you of a part of you that you don't like?
You make me feel like my mother, she abandoned me (you abandoned me)
You make me feel like the act of love is empty (I felt so empty)
Am I so unlovable?
Is my heart unbreakable?
Do I remind you of a part of you that you despise?
Are my lips unkissable?
Are my eyes unlookable?
Is my sex undoable?
Am I unlovable?
Are my words unlistenable?
Are my hands untouchable?
Am I undesirable?
Am I unlovable?
You make me feel like my father never loved me
You make me feel like the act of love is empty
Am I so unlovable?
Is my skin untouchable?
Do I remind you of a part of you that you don't like?
You make me feel like my father never loved me (you never loved me)
You make me feel like the act of love is empty (I felt so empty)
Am I so unlovable?
Is my skin untouchable?
Do I remind you of a part of you that you don't like?
You make me feel like my mother, she abandoned me (you abandoned me)
You make me feel like the act of love is empty (I felt so empty)
Am I so unlovable?
Is my heart unbreakable?
Do I remind you of a part of you that you despise?
You make me feel like my father never loved me (you never loved me)
You make me feel like my mother, she abandoned me (you abandoned me)
You make me feel like my father never loved me (you never loved me)
You make me feel like my mother, she abandoned me (you abandoned me)
song performed by by Darren Hayes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
King Lear
If you didn’t dream up always new ideas
And if they didn't empower you
To make our dreams to become more real,
If you didn't dance in the rain,
If you didn't cry
For not being a child
Any longer,
If you were able to forget yourself
For falling away into your body,
If you never screamed
In the darkness,
If you didn’t have
Enough courage
To make love
In the snow,
To feel
That snow melting on the ground,
Certainly you couldn't touch my soul,
Because I would prefer
To walk around
And to put my love in my hands
And, like a beggar, to stretch my left hand in your direction.
Moreover,
Like king Lear, to stretch my right hand in your direction,
Because if you really loved me,
I would never let you go.
poem by Marieta Maglas
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
So Here I Am
There you are, here I am
Holding back, what I wish to say again
I can do it, but I can't seem to find the words
So I keep to myself, so sheltered
And once you leave, they come right back
But I don't have the courage to state the fact
Because I don't want changes to be
And I don't want you different towards me
So I kept, it to, myself
I knew what I wanted us to be
But I kept, it to, myself
And held it in when I wanted to speak
So here I am.
Now we're 16, at a party, of a friend of mine
You are here, and I wanted to say it, this time
But then I saw her, she kissed you
That struck deep; I broke in two
So I stayed there, all alone
And lost my chance to say it before you took her home
And once you left, they come right back
But I don't have the courage to state the fact
Because I don't want changes to be
And I don't want you different towards me
So I kept, it to, myself again
I knew what I wanted to say, everything
But I kept, it to, myself again
And held it in when I wanted to speak
So here I am.
Now we're 23
And I’m in the back row, of your wedding
Cause I didn't want anyone to see, the tears that I cried-
Not for her, but for you and me, and what we should be
Should I object? Make my move?
But by the time I made up my mind, the whole thing was through
And once you left, they come right back
But I didn't have the courage to state the fact
And I didn't want to confuse your wedding day
But I can't stand to watch you walk away
So I kept, it to, myself
I felt some hope, of what we could be
But I kept, it to, myself
And held it in when I wanted to speak
So here I am.
Now we’re 40, and look how big your kids have grown
Sometimes as I hug them, I still wish they were my own
And I still feel that light still burning; maybe it's not too late
But then I look into the eyes of your family, and I don't want to make a mistake
And once you leave the feelings come right back
But I didn't have the courage, to state the fact
Because I don't want to ruin, your family
And I don't them to think less of me
So I kept, it to, myself
I felt some hope, of what we could be
But I kept, it to, myself
And held it in when I wanted to speak
So here I am.
Now we're 70, and your great grandchildren are born
And I can see your face, through everyone
And sometimes when you're on your porch, I still want make a move
But I just stay inside, like an old ladies supposed to do
And once you leave, the feelings come right back
But I didn't have the courage, to state the fact
Because I don't want to ruin, your family
And I don't them to think of me differently
So I kept, it to, myself
Wishing I hadn't taken so long to believe
But I kept, it to, myself
And held it in when I wanted to speak
So here I am.
Now we're 90, and I'm at your funeral
Oh how these years went by so quickly, it's hard to believe you're gone
And I'm infuriated with myself, for not acing fast
And upset, because I never took that chance
So finally to the grave, I am able to say:
Now that you're gone, the feelings come right back
I now have to courage, to state the fact
But I am too late, waited too long
To take the chance, I dreamed upon
And I’ve I kept, it to, myself
Wishing I hadn't taken so long believe
I’ve kept, it all to, myself
And held it in when I wanted to speak
So here I am, without you
Sleeping these nights alone
So here I am, without you
Wishing, I would have came forward
So here I am.
And you're no where, to be seen
So here I am, without you
Missing you desperately
Now I'm at my funeral, on my way, to heaven
On my way to God, and still wishing for that blessing
And right when I walk in, through those pearly golden gates
You're right where I wanted, and finally I get my chance to say
And now we're here, the feelings came right back
I now have to courage, to state the fact
Because now you're here
And now I'm here
And I'm no longer, keeping this to myself
Because I've waited my whole life just to tell you how I felt
So here I am, with you
No longer, sleeping these nights alone
So here I am, with you
Proud that I finally came forward
So here I am.
poem by Sugar Bear
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Isolation: 25 June 2010
The people are all excited whereas I feel like sh*te;
There's a birthday-bash at Jenny's gaff tonight.
The sun is setting down but her home has brightened up.
Everyone will be there, each with their own plastic-cup
To drink from, eat some cake, and sing the birthday song;
It's a party we've been waiting for all year long.
I think of my friends arriving there, even Alan my dream man,
The birthday-girl greeting them and bringing their own cans.
But I am at home, staring at the stars with tears in my eyes.
I wasn't even invited, to my surprise.
On Facebook, she'd told me that her party was 'full',
Which, to anyone with a mind, was just a load of bull.
It was because I loved her that she didn't want me there.
I'd never felt so left out - it just isn't fair!
I have taught myself a lesson and she has lost my respect.
And because she's caused me such deep isolation,
Her dignity, to me, has been permanently fecked.
poem by Stephen Cahill Furlong
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Today; Tomorrow
Today
It’s been five years since I have heard your voice.
Today
It’s been five years since I have heard your laugh.
Today
It’s been five years since I have seen your smile.
Today
Is the saddest day for me.
Today
I still remember like it was yesterday.
Today
I feel numb just like how I felt five years ago.
Today
I can still remember how I ran and didn’t want to stop.
Today
I still feel the emptiness of knowing I won’t ever see you again.
Today
I try and smile for you knowing that you are watching over me.
Today
I let my tears roll down slowly down my cheeks.
Today
I remember how you were so happy to be home.
Today
I still know that you didn’t have to suffer no more.
Today
I still try hard not to blame myself why you left my world.
Today
I sit here and remember the memories I have of you.
But tomorrow
I will still smile for you.
poem by Kimberly Santistevan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Eve
Detdicated to Eve Croft
May she Rest In Peace
It was over forty years ago
when I first met her.
I had barely left my teens.
She was older than me;
in fact, she was a friend’s mother.
Divorce had left her lonely
with three sons to bring up.
Life was not easy,
not much time to herself.
Slowly after meeting her,
a friendship between us grew.
To make her life sustainable
I took her out
from time to time.
We held hands at the pictures
and when we went anywhere.
She often worried
what people would think of me.
I didn’t really care what people thought.
Eve was a friend
and there was nothing more to be said.
For the next couple of years
our friendship never wavered.
We would hug and smile
whenever we did meet.
There was never any romance involved,
we were just very good friends.
I never forget when she had an offer
to move in with someone.
She was so worried
that I would think badly of her.
She was almost in tears
when she told me his proposition.
I put my arm around her shoulder
and reassured her it was all right.
That our friendship would never diminish
regardless what she did.
Sadly, her going away
was never meant to be.
She fell ill with cancer
and went to live with her sister
who would care for her.
It was the last time
I was ever to see her.
It was a few years later
I bumped into her eldest son.
When I asked him about his mum
he looked at me strangely
with tears holding back I his eyes.
She died I thought you knew.
I said that I didn’t.
He said he couldn’t stop
as he had a bus to catch,
and then he was gone.
With head bowed, I turned away
and started walking home.
Tears leaked from my eyes
making small lines across my cheeks.
My regret then and will always be
that I never had a chance
to say a proper goodbye.
1 January 2008
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
When The Running Stops
When the Running Stops
In the enclose, outside the slaughterhouse, sheep were running in rings,
first to the left, and then to the right; in the end there was only one left
and it was too tired to run. I have lost two more friends, feel as I’m
the only sheep left in the enclosure and too tired to run. Heartache and
fun, we had it all in our adolescence. Then our way parted, but you never
forget a childhood friend.
Two years ago I was going to see them, a reunion of school friends going
back fifty years. In the end I didn’t go, knew we would talk a lot first then
fall silent. What we remembered was our friendship then and the past is
another country, as the poet says.
I knew the chasm of years could not be bridged, over meal and too much
wine. One of my friends sent me a photo of the party, a group of old men
I would have walked past in the street and not recognized any of them.
I put the photo up on the wall in my office, but soon took it down again.
Time is a cruel enemy I cry for them and me.
poem by Oskar Hansen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!