“See enough and write it down, I tell myself, and then some morning when the world seems drained of wonder, some day when I am only going through the motions of doing what I am supposed to do on that bankrupt morning I will simply open my notebook and there it will all be, a forgotten account with accumulated interest, paid passage back to the world out there.”
Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem
(Photograph of Didion by Henry Clarke)
In English, we say: “I miss you.”
But in poetry, we say:
“I trace the shape of your absence in the spaces where your laughter used to linger,
In English, we say: “I don’t know how to let go.”
But in poetry, we say:
“I carry you in my chest like a stone—
heavy, unyielding, and carved with the sharp edges of what once was.”
In English, we say: “I feel lost.”
But in poetry, we say:
“The compass of my heart spins wildly now,
its needle drawn to places it can no longer call home.”
In English, we say: “I wish it were different.”
But in poetry, we say:
“I water the garden of could-have-beens with tears,
waiting for flowers that refuse to bloom.”
In English, we say: “I hope you’re happy.”
But in poetry, we say:
“May the sun that warms your days
be as kind to you as the first kiss of dew on the dawning light upon the leaves of the laurel that we once made love under”
In English, we say: “You hurt me.”
But in poetry, we say:
“You planted thorns in my chest with hands I once trusted,
and now every breath feels like an apology I shouldn’t owe.”
In English, we say: “I wanted to stay.”
But in poetry, we say:
“I lingered at the edge of your world,
a star burning quietly, unnoticed in your vast, indifferent sky.”
In English, we say: “I’m trying to move on.”
But in poetry, we say:
“I untangle your name from my veins each morning,
only to find it woven into my dreams again at night.”
In English, we say: “I’ll be okay.”
But in poetry, we say:
“I gather the shattered pieces of myself like broken glass,
knowing someday, even scars can catch the light.”
With poetry I write paths through gardens of grace with words in ways my body dare not go as a whole.
Written by : Larson Langston.
