I thought...

I've had my dose of disappointments.

I thought...

 

 

I thought God was an old man

with a long white beard,

stranded in the vast unknown

of what mortals believe to be heaven,

always watching, always judging,

weighing offenses against the scale of righteousness.

 

I thought poems had to rhyme

and songs were meant to be sung dramatically,

so I silenced the unwritten melodies in me

in the chasm of insignificance

and I conformed my voice

to the dissonant noise of the crowd.

 

I thought wisdom was contained

in the pages of books

with the imprint of revered geniuses,

so I spent most of my waking hours

in the private world of words

leaving behind uninteresting realities.

 

I thought happiness could be achieved

by pleasing universal eyes,

so I shaped myself

to the stereotypes of society,

nameless, voiceless,

and was manipulated like a puppet.

 

I thought love was a fairytale

(and there's nothing more cliche than that)

so I allowed my fantasies to reign

and kissed more than a dozen frogs

in the vain pursuit

of a Disneylike romance.

 

I thought I was a nobody,

never amounting to anything much,

so I repressed my golden dreams

and didn’t to my potentials,

not knowing that in the process,

I lost opportunities and I lost myself.

 

I thought just because things made sense,

they were absolute truths,

governing the existence of humanity,

so I lived my life in ignorance,

breathing lies and feasting upon misconceptions...

just like everybody else

Author's Note

Original link: http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/arzeljoy_blu/1272663/

Reviews

[Bowers]

this is great, so deep, were always underestimating ourselves, aren't we, questioning the world and what we face everyday. Expectations never reached, because they are set so high... I really loved this write! very thought provoking!

[MsJewel]

So often we are blinded by what we perceive as truth - when in fact it is not reality...
I can relate to so many verses, it is impossible to pick my favorite. Your talent is amazing my friend. This one is going in my library.

:) Julie

[Gilda]

Wonderful poem, and very true! I feel this is something a lot of people could relate to. You have a mesmerizing way of writing, it flows beautifully and others have noticed the symmetry in its structure, but I'll mention it again as I think its one of the things that really draws you to this poem.

I thought wisdom was contained
in the pages of books
with the imprint of revered geniuses,
so I spent most of my waking hours
in the private world of words
leaving behind uninteresting realities.

This bit is my favourite. It reminds me of my childhood and getting lost in books, and how sometimes we might wish life is more like a book when it gets a little dull.

Wonderful work :)

[Jennie Baron]

Outstanding. So well worded and symmetrical in its structure and profound as well.

[Oyindamola Shoola]

well penned....sometimes our thoughts could betray us by appearing like the world is perfect....
this poem reminds me of one of the silly thoughts I had when I was young... I thought whenever I lied my nose will grow long like Pinocchio's own, so whenever I told a lie, I would cover my nose and then my parents will know that I am lying and I will end up being punished ....my thought betrayed me...thanks for sharing

[cycy]

"I thought love was a fairytale
(and there's nothing more cliche than that)
so I allowed my fantasies to reign
and kissed more than a dozen frogs
in the vain pursuit
of a Disneylike romance."
well written Arzel, this is a wonderful poem and it gets you thinking about a lot of philosophies and life myths that we blindly believe on and even follow, some of which you don't even realise are there to begin with. a lovely read indeed. really speaks truth hey. well composed.

[Blue]

Thank you, Cycy.

[sivan]

well i've gone through three of your poems and i must say this is the best out of the ones i read... it's true the way everybody is living behind truth rather than in truth

[Blue]

This is one of my favorites as well. Thank you for dropping by, Sivan. I appreciate your visits.