"I Want Out" - A Poem from Nearly 20 Years Ago
(from Wikipedia)
I wrote a lot of poetry back during my undergrad days, but once I found that I enjoyed doing fiction more, I never picked it back up (despite filling a huge notebook with well-transcribed versions along with accompanying images). Since Steemit seems to have a thriving (and growing) poetry community, I thought I'd add a little fuel to that particular fire. I hope you enjoy :)
What am I supposed to say
When faced with the task of adversity
As I sit here, stuck in my
Melted sand enclosure with an
Ant who's making better headway
At selling gum to those with lockjaw
Than I am at selling plastic appendages
To those who have none at all?
I sought the wrong 'x' on the map
And found the issues I buried years ago
Beneath a pile of childhood
That makes me wince every time
I try not to think about it.
It's the bittersweet taste of winning
At the expense of your best friend's loss.
It's the futility you feel watching the ant
Try and climb his way to the top part
of the hourglass.
But to him, it's just another room to explore;
To you, somewhere you wish you'd never explored.
"Arizona" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/arizona-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Lasso the Moon, George Bailey" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/lasso-the-moon-george-bailey-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Sphinx Song" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/sphinx-song-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Purgatory's Visiting Hours" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/purgatory-s-visiting-hours-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"When Atlas Shrugged" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/sure-atlas-shrugged-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Christmas in Viet Nam" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/christmas-in-viet-nam-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Apocalypsis" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/apocalypsis-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"New Novel, Issue 2, Vol. I" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/new-novel-issue-2-vol-i-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Star God (My Final Thread)" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/star-god-my-final-thread-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"The Universe is Right on Schedule" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/the-universe-is-right-on-schedule-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Absence of God & Time" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/absence-of-god-and-time-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Hale-Bopp" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/hale-bopp-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
Lots of regret here.
When Robert Frost says that the road less traveled by made all the difference, he never says that it was a positive difference. As far as we know, the narrator could be speaking from a dungeon.
Your last line reminds me of this.
yeah...that was a weird time period. glad i put the dates on the original entries. definitely helps put the pieces into context.
LOTS of regret in many of these pieces. i was obviously not a moody 20-something :P
I date everything I write for the same reason.
The 20s can be a tumultuous time!
Very cool, I am also pulling out some of the old writings to add to the early history of steemit from the early days of my youth. It's always nice to look back at these types of things and see what was, has been and is. I am very grateful to be able to look back on all of it from a much better place. Knowing some of the things I wrote about were life changing for some. Keep sharing and I'll keep reading.
pretty wild going back through these some 20ish years later and being able to see both the themes across most of them AND remembering the inciting incidents that pushed me into creating them. it's been a fun jaunt through the memory of bad relationships and even worse writing :P
awesome piece
thank ya!