Saturday 15 December 2012

Honest things


 

You summarised our time together with ordinary phrases,
“Enjoyed that time at Zoe’s, didn’t we? And those other places?”
The summing up itself was the closure, though I didn’t realise
the purpose to your conversation, the frustrated half-sighs
and a refusal to meet my eyes till much, much later;
and when I did, the whole thing had almost ceased to matter.
Nothing really, just a pang that leave taking was so concise,
a vague disquiet that honest things can also end in disguise.

 

Often the wounds are made and healed, a scratch here or there,
and farewells said in strange formats, while we remain unaware.
You could have shook me by the hand, looked straight into my eyes.
But you didn’t. And taught me that not all untruths are lies.
For one of the pair things closed that day, for the other nothing changed,
one still kept her weekends free just as both had arranged.
But no-one came back to knock.  Many days and many goodbyes
had to be flipped to understand what a summing up implies.



Shared at dVerse where we are exploring poetry written in the second person this night.

12 comments:

  1. Thought-provoking write, especially the part about not all untruths are lies. From your poem I GET that! The second person form really worked to convey your message and to draw the reader personally in. Nice.

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    1. Thank you for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed it.

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  2. Sad reality that most of us face at one time or another. The 2nd person works well for this. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. taught me that not all untruths are lies...what an intriguing line that is...

    partings are hard...especially when we dont see them except in hindsight....

    i end with a rather odd feel at the end...much like i imagine the situation felt...

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    1. Thank you for your comment..Agree that they are always hard, however deep or shallow the friendships...either hard to actually part, or just hard to handle with the right degree of involvement!

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  4. Interesting view of "summing up" and perfunctory goodbyes.

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  5. hmmm...sad. "But no-one came back to knock." That waiting sounds painful, but I wager the realization that eventually came was even more so.

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    1. Thanks you for reading. Partings are always painful, sometimes in unanticipated ways..

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  6. not all untruths are lies...that stood out for me and kinda seems the core, the poem wraps around..not an easy situation at all

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  7. Very good second voice...this line stood out for me:

    a vague disquiet that honest things can also end in disguise.

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