the record still plays

the record still plays

 

 

there will be no dance

this moonlit night is full of awkward shadows

and uncertainty of spirit

 

love feels unease

arms hold vaguely

there is distance when eyes meet

congruent steps 

are out of balance

 

I read "how to" books

on approach

but cannot encroach

just listen to the rhythm of her breath

like a soft poem

 

it reads to my heart

but the shadows

that come from the moon

or me

dissent

 

my mind moves to a certain beat

of her

I back away from her music

 

I don't understand the lyrics

cower with misinterpretation

of her song

 

that present is now past

I still feel her beat

my memory, my heart

her heart

the chance to dance and be one

 

materialized like a mirage

and was gone before 

I could take her hand

and whisper the name of the song

into her lovely ear.

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

10/30/22

Reviews

[Weeping willow]

Beautifully expressed in so many ways, love the flow, just love it ;-]

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, willow,
j.

[Lydia Shutter]

The metaphor here is stunning! Romantic relationships are like a song. They build to a crescendo and then fade away. Still, there whisper stays with us and sometimes the feeling glides past us when we remember. I think sometimes missed opportunities are meant to be. The outcome we imagine might not have been the one happening in actuality. Great write. Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind words, Lydi.
j.

[Zoe Richardson]

What a lovely tribute to a lost opportunity! Fear of rejection immobilizes us. Or at least, it did me when it came to approaching the opposite sex. Not anymore because I have no desire to approach the opposite sex, lol. But oh! The delights we miss when we let a moment like this pass.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, no guts, no glory....I have been often guilty of that. Thank you, Zoe,
j.

[AYVID N]

The past is vivid here and it hasn't ceased to sway the poet to its beat or enrapture him with its enticing shadows. Lost love and its memories may seem remote as a mirage yet still so near enough to draw poetic inspiration from. I marvel at this ability of yours, dear Jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind review, DIVYA---
j.

[W. Barrett Munn]

He who hesitates is lost, so it is said. What caused this hesitation, I wonder. Him or her? Or both?

Winston

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Quite the conundrum...thank you, Winston,
j.

[willweb]

How many times has this occurred, the nerve to ask, to just say hi...if only. That could have been the name of the song 'If only". I got butterflies in my stomach just now thinking about those moments I have faced and failed at...but oh the thought. Nice one Jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, will,
appreciate your thoughts on this one,
j.

[Einstein Noodle]

very romantic jacob. isn't it "strange" how we, in love, will have that special song .. the one we use to dance by .. thanks for sharing sir. i enjoyed the memories and feelings inspired ..
"congruent steps
are out of balance" ... that's me my friend ... left footed and sweaty palmed forever ... Happy Halloween!
E.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

that's both of us, E.---thank you for your understanding words,
j.

[Einstein Noodle]

:) ....................

[softlyfall]

Just goes to show, be impulsive comme moi!
Oh wait, that can lead to regrets about what you DID do.
In the end, that moment served its purpose. If nothing else, it was the catalyst for great poem. Like you said once before, we poets need shadows and sadness to define the light.
The longer I live, the more I think that human beings have absolutely no ide about the meaning if life.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I am still looking for that meaning...
thank you, Amy,
j.

[Beccy]

As Alexander Pope wrote, hope springs eternal and I have always been minded that as a species, we are programmed to try and heal even the deepest of wounds, to come together no matter the seeming gulf that divides.

But as ever, and at whatever level, it takes two to tango and if two parties are out of step, then unaddressed, it is for certain that rifts widen into canyons.

For me jacob, this was both a thought provoking and skilfully wrought poem and despite all, I am hopeful still.

Beccy.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, me too, Beccy....hopeful but it is waning.
thank you,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

A lost romantic opportunity. The timing wasn't right. I know that feeling. Beautifully conveyed poem J.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Chris,
j.