Perception is a Fickle Thing

"Maybe if things were different," she said,

"Maybe if life didn't change."

She rebelled against my aggression.

She drenched my burning rage.

Tracing the lines of the beginning,

I could tell you here and now,

Who really started this...

I could even tell you how.

All the words from all the songs

Suddenly became too real.

It's as if they told me who she was

And how I should feel.

Waltzing through existance

As casually as could be.

A soaring break of black

I still can barely see.

She wrapped me in her words,

She cut me with them too.

Memorising, tantalising.

Used against me just a few.

"Maybe if things were different,"

They cut me like a knife. 

Words so unempathetic,

As she demurely left my life.

Tangoing out as quickly

As she sullenly came.

Dancing out on rooftops

and I'll always know her name.

All it took was seconds, 

Not minutes, hours or days.

Is it an even dance floor?

It is, or at least she says. 

This pathological liar,

This bully, this fiend, this friend,

Has broken every bone in my body,

But her time was soon to end. 

So it's over and done;

I've said all I can say.

She's gone now with my organs.

More distant, than far away.

But was it all for nothing?

Another tally on her wall?

I'll never understand

That I "caught [her] from [her] fall." 

Maybe she can't talk?

And ergo can't explain.

But she's only human,

She must feel the pain.

Words are all she has:

Her weapon of abuse.

I'll bet she never thought

She could put them to better use.

Reviews

[mosobean]

This is such a powerful poem, i love the imagery you've used and especially the 'another tally on her wall', it's really interesting. May I ask what it is about?

[Ren Black]

This is a poem is about the narrator meeting a woman and falling in love with her but she never felt the same about him, she felt that they were friends, "she could put them to better use." She was a very aggressive woman who teased him a friendly way, "this bully," and soon she moved away so her excuse for not being able to tell him that she loved him was that she was moving away to another country so it would be too difficult for them to share anything more than friendship.

[Nautili]

This is an exquisitely penned work about the heart-wrenching pain of a break-up. Exquisite because sometimes art is birthed from our sorrows. I especially love the lines :
"This pathological liar,
This bully, this fiend, this friend"
-often we feel betrayed in a sense, but we still love them, and that is where the conflicting emotions come in....so relatable!!!!!! Hope you heal!

[Ren Black]

While I do thank you so much for your very kind words, this poem is not about a break up - however I completely understand why it would seem that way. Thank you so very much.

[joey]

i feel the pain...seems like we all get cut up by the ignorance of another person....your last four lines wrap it up beautifully....im stealing them :)

[Ren Black]

Thank you very much for your comments. May I ask what you mean by stealing them? Haha.

[joey]

haha joke, she could put them to better use....i smiled at that....perfect

[Ren Black]

I'm glad that you were able to decipher this poem as "ignorance of another person." I have posted this on another writing community and almost all who commented on what they thought it was about had no clue - but still it was nice they could find personal meaning it.

[joey]

thats poetry though, to put it out there and let the masses identify what they need to....the poet no longer matters even though we know the true meaning

[Ren Black]

I know what you mean. Long gone are the days when one could admire poetry for the skill involved, the intellect behind the creative way with words and long gone are the days when one would ask, "Poet, what meaning does this poem hold for you?" It is now an industry which evanescing to say the least, but with the little interest left in it, it's about creating one's own meaning and if said person doesn't like the meaning they've created, they lose interest in the poem and poet. It's still nice in some respects to know that some people can find their own meanings.

[Laminators Dubai]

i cant stop reading it....its a fab!
i got no words...great job!
keep writing!

[Ren Black]

Thank you so much!

[Sami Khalil]

"Tracing the lines of the beginning,

I could tell you here and now,

Who really started this...

I could even tell you how.




All the words from all the songs

Suddenly became too real."

I like those lines the most in this splendid poem...:)

[Ren Black]

Thank you very much. :)

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:)