wrenched out of some familiar life-pattern

wrenched out of some familiar life-pattern

A Poem by Philip Gaber



I never get the girl I like.
I always get the gangly, angry girl
with guileless eyes and stringy hair
who has a tendency toward passivity.
Or the gaunt, hyper girl
with a nervous giggle and a brittle smile
who is prone to sulking.
Or the thin, vague girl
with a black eye and a loud laugh
terrified of clowns.
Or the tiny, slippery girl
with unruly hair and a bulbous nose
who smells strongly of mothballs.
Or the pudgy, depressed girl
with a cleft chin and a silly grin
who carries a concealed blade.
And then, one day, it dawned on me.
Maybe I never get the girl I want
because I never became the man
I was supposed to become.
Because I wasted so many hours and days, even years,
doing exactly the opposite of what I was supposed to be doing.
Like smoking pot instead of doing my homework.
Working as a dishwasher instead of going to college.
Sleeping in instead of waking up.
F*****g instead of committing.
Committing instead of f*****g.
Drinking instead of not drinking.
And I guess if you ever wanted to toss a little
psychology into all this mess
you could probably explain away my behavior
by saying something like
people like me with weak social bonds
are prone to self-destructive behavior,
and I wouldn’t argue with that, either.
Or maybe the reason is even simpler than that.
Maybe I unconsciously choose these girls
just so I can reject them;
because it’s always easier to reject
somebody if you don’t like them,
especially when you’re
rejecting them to get even
with the multitudes who have rejected you
because they didn’t like you.
Could it be that?
Or maybe I’d rather not be with anybody.
Maybe I prefer living a dreamy, solitary lifestyle,
in a dark one-furnished room and kitchenette
trying to remember when I was smiling, handsome, and young,
and wasn’t carrying around this burden of sadness
I can’t seem to escape.
Could be that, too.
 

© 2024 Philip Gaber


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Added on June 18, 2024
Last Updated on June 18, 2024

Author

Philip Gaber
Philip Gaber

Charlotte, NC



About
I hate writing biographies. I was one of those kids who rode a banana seat bike and watched Saturday morning cartoons and Soul Train. But my mother would never buy any of those sugary cereals for us k.. more..

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