I See You

I see you

in that orange beanie and a denim jacket

with a scarf thrown like someone else’s arms

around your neck,

with eyes like a jagged glacier -

never moving

but ever-piercing,

even drifting into mine

accidentally on purpose.

 

I see me

with my mouth unwillingly welcoming subzero air

selfishly clinging to words just so it can say that you didn’t

steal all of them.

But you did.

Me - with my blue eyes squinting

against your tidal waves,

drowning

in your deep end.

 

I see you

hands lifted, eyes closed and singing with a voice

that sounds suspiciously like October,

even though I know October is gone.

Singing with words that God put under your tongue

and expelled from your lips like thunder,

words that bury eyes in tears,

words that cause your glaciers to melt -

just a little.

 

I see me

with a camera and a ukulele

trying to capture Creation using only Polaroids and strings.

And I have to say that I was doing just fine

before you came along.

 

I see you

with a baseball cap and empty Gatorade bottles

in the floorboard of your Jeep,

with a passenger seat that has been passengerless for a little too long

and a rearview mirror that has the dark specks in your eyes numbered

from staring back at them

so

much.

 

I see me

with a canvas as white as these claustrophobic walls

holding all the colors God ever made in my trembling hands

yet unable to paint anything the way it really is.

No brush, forced to fingerpaint like I always have,

a child like I’ve always been,

pouring senseless shapes and hues onto canvases that I was probably better off leaving void of my handprints.

I’ve never settled,

never sold myself short.

And the saying isn’t true.

When you shoot for the moon

sometimes the stars aren’t paying attention.

I’m still looking for somewhere to land.

Reviews

[Lisa Murphy]

Awesome! For me, this poem captures the imagery of a relationship that was/isn't. It gives me the feeling of something that got away from you and the regret that goes with it. I am a person who goes in so many directions at once. It spoke to me of feeling sorrow and pain that comes from not being able to commit to one true thing because there are so many choices. It touched me.

[fictionletsusfly]

Thanks so much Lisa!! It means a lot to me that it made you feel something :) I poured a lot of emotion into it! God bless you!