Symmetry60
  Gold Member

Now you understand why I was inspired here. How utterly sad that any human has ever had to endure such cruelty. It breaks my heart.

Inspired by Lisa Kudrow on Who Do You Think You Are which can be seen on youtube. Check it out. It is very moving and brought me to tears. Thank you for the kindness, Lin. :-)

Back for a 10th read and these lines caught me this time:

Does the pain produce prose
Does the muse need to suffer twice
First from the wound
And second from the remorse

I regret the time I acted out of spite
and harmed myself much more than the victim of my vengeance

I languish too long thinking of the times I did not speak up and became what someone else wanted
Twisting into a version of myself that sickens me
And takes away a piece of my soul

How these speak to me...straight into the core of my being. Isn't it amazing how our fallibility can lower us below common sense, morality and standard to become all the things we loathe of ourselves and others.

Emotion can lead us down these self-destructive paths where we end up despising ourselves, wondering what the hell we were thinking when we opted to engage any such deeds. There really is no escaping our weaknesses but as a subsequent quest in having to deal with them in hindsight. I now believe that this is where wisdom stems from and why imperfection and tribulation are necessary for ultimate growth.

Yeah, yeah, here he is again rambling on, but I can't help but to be who I am...a verbose rambler onner. more »

Thank you very much. Such irony in that I despise writing this style and yet feel it's a must for the contests where most top contest winners utilize it. Every time I enter one of my other style poems I end up with no votes, hence. Thank you again for the kind words. :-) more »

Humbly, and truth be told, I literally threw this together last minute and decided to enter it. It probably took an hour to write. I got inspired from a youtube video of Lisa Kudrow on the show "Who Do You Think You Are" where they trace family lineages back so people can find out who their ancestors were. Lisa's family had suffered horrible fates at the hands of the Nazis back in the day. It actually brought me to tears hearing the story. Hence, along came Jewish Holocaust. I'm not thrilled with it, but it sufficed enough to garner no votes. LOL! In any regard, I look forward to more of your artistry. more »

Had this in my top picks. I knew this one was yours. You're always in the hunt and that makes me nervous.

This was the one I voted for. Great job, Ben.

Now you're just showing off, man. :-P

This is worthy of top prize. Too good.

Absolutely beautiful poem, Linda. Certain nostalgia really invokes emotion in me. This has all those beautiful undertones I live for. That you wrote most of this in 1976 further evokes the memories of a life I look back upon with great joy, as well the regrets of things found and lost. Your gift is abundant as shown here. more »

We're entitled to our woes just as we are granted the faculty to carry on knowing they consume us at times. The irony being that we wonder how will we carry on as we are in the midst of doing just that- carrying on. All we can do is try not to get too lost in what might have been while taking for granted what is. We do no service to those we reside with currently if we allow our thoughts to consume us. Quality of life is where our focus lies. Try not to bypass here and now and those who care for you by losing yourself in the things you cannot change. Strength is the next step forward we take despite our weaknesses. We live and die between our ears. This is a sad reality too many good people suffer. Beautiful piece here my friend. more »

Not being a grammar Nazi, buddy, but I was reading it a third time because I liked it that much and found this typo: But as the moon relects its glow on the sea.

You hitting the bottle again? If not, start. ;-) more »

I don't know whether to laugh or cry, girlfriend. On the one hand it's so beautiful that I feel like welling up. The love is so deep that it makes me miss loving someone myself, but that's a good thing. Then there's the bittersweetness of the love being for someone in your past that is no longer available which makes me sad because it makes you sad. Cyber hug. :-)

Two typos to note: 1) In the depths of my heart, a lame burns bright. 2) ough the ending has been written, my heart still holds. more »

So, keep the first line and delete the rest, is that it, toots? You knew that was coming what with me being so punky predictable and such. See how I aim to please. I'm a keeper.

Just made it up. It came out only okay, but I'm too busy to give a rat's arse. Thank you for looming, shadow girl. ;-)