A Selfish Shellfish Sharing Sorrow

How did everyone end up
Coupled up?
Was it some sort of craze
That swept the land?
Brushing those individuals
- Those poor untouched souls -
Under the world's proverbial rug:
For the united to tread upon
- "Happily" and "with love".

I seemed to have missed this boat.
It's sailing in the distance,
I can see it.
To jump, though, would leave me stranded.
Floating in a vast empty sea.
But on the shore
Are those individuals
- Those poor untouched souls -
Sobbing fair-well to the ferry
We seemed to have lost.
 
And now all my greatest friends...
Are gone.
I have lost them, too,
Out at sea.
Time with new romances.
Leaves me without my buoyancy,
An aid to keep me afloat if I feel I'm drowning.

They don't have to be there for me.
Maybe I'm a selfish shellfish.
Living in the water
Not appreciating
That I can swim
Up to the top.
And pop my head above the water.
But can't they swim too?
Back to the shore.
Down to the seabed.

Maybe not.
Maybe me and the crustaceans
Will become
The best of friends.
 

Reviews

[Bubo]

Maybe I�m a selfish shellfish.
Living in the water
Not appreciating
That I can swim
Up to the top.
And pop my head above the water

What a powerful piece..................it often seems when we feel alone everyone else is moving on and we're shouting "HANG ON"............trying to understand why we feel on the outside. I really enjoyed this piece.............alot of lines I nodded my head in agreement.

[Helen Woodward]

HA!!! Lol xx Love this...Gotta watch those little nipper Crustaceans! I love being ON the water, but not IN it, unless it's a hot tub! The coast that surrounds Australa is dangerous, teeming with Sharks, Box-jellyfish and nippers. God I don't dare put my big toe in there! I really like the analagy of ocean/life...Good girl... I don't have anything remotely like this, but I'll give you a laugh...

[Fabian G. Franklin]

"I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas" T.S. Eliot

This was just lovely. It reminds me of my own poem, O the Tiny Fishes except yours is a bit more serious and making greater use of metaphor very well here. You really are quite talented.

[Cdnsurfer]

This is a natural process as people start discovering relationships. They begin drifting off, and even when you find your match, then people start to marry and have children. Yes, the drift of adulthood changes relationships and how you relate to yourself and others. People will drift in and out of your life, that is a certainty, so make sure you know and love yourself -- the only constant you'll have in this world. You will find your shellfish match and be happy crustaceans! Don't doubt it for a single moment. I keep getting pleasantly surprised at the powerful stories you are telling in your poetry. Better and better every time. Well done. Rob

[Gary H]

Living in a seaside town in my youth I can really relate to this. I know I sat on the beach looking out at the ships on the horizon wondering if they, like girls I so much wanted to be friends with, would pass me by. Always seemed to be too far out of reach (and still are!!!) For those reflections this gave me, thank you for writing. Very enjoyable.