February Son (2014)

       I am your opus, I am your valuable,

          The pure gold baby That melts to a shriek.

                 -Sylvia Plath

I may not be as sick now

  As you'll remember I was;

But believe it, Mama, how

  I'm as sick now as I ever was--

And maybe then some.

  If asked anything else,

Let the brass speak for itself,

About how your February Son

  Would thusly become

A rare one among

  A gallery where hung

The fundamental vision

  Of undeniable wisdom.

And know how his own wisdom,

  His handsome vision

Can give some

  A reason to believe

In the dreams unseen

  By anyone else

Other than themselves.

And don't let them think for

  One single moment more,

If they should somehow adore

  The idea that I 

Wouldn't make it to thirty alive.

  Let it be surprising,

When they realize he

Is not only alive

  (not only admired;

not only avoiding the hive)

  But also has aspired

To be one who will adorn

  That gallery for-ever-more...

      Need we really say anymore?

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I remember feeling so broken & hopeless in my 20's, I never thought I'd make it to my 30's. That was kind of a common sentiment back in the day, since we couldn't trust anyone over 30 anyhow. Your poem reminds me of the way sometimes youth will wear their misery like badges or armor, proudly suffering & rebuffing those who give feeble assurances and fix-you advice. It's almost like suffering can be a "club" that some people proudly belong to. This idea has been replaced by the old-people version, where everyone has ailments & most conversations center around how s****y it feels to be getting old & decrepit. We humans are a whiny bunch (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Wesley Dingler]

Agreed, Marj...
Humans are a whiny breed.
But like i said, though im not as sick as i once was, few will challange me because im as sick as i ever was...
In a way i guess youd say my malady became something of a shield.

[barleygirl]

I love that line -- "not as sick as I once was . . . "

[Wesley Dingler]

Haha...
Me, too. It's both figurative and literal here.

Beautiful picture, by the way.

[Wesley Dingler]

Also, I've only taken my poetry volumes down because I am publishing them as actual books.
I'm going to leave this collection here, since a good many people like studying the form.
That and part of me says anything new or inventive belongs to the world, not a singular person.
It will always be public domain here.