It's not decided yet,
but that's always what they say.
They tell me it's never final
until the plane leaves the ground,
leaves the dust and dirt into
a cloudy blue sky so out of reach
on your average two feet.
To many people,
I have the luxury of travel,
Of finding places and cultures new to me,
hearing different languages
and perhaps learning them too.
But I'll never know what it’s like
to be attached to a home,
to hear the familiarity of a creaky step
or the comfort of a bedroom
I’ve been in for years.
I’ll never know what it's like to know
so many people because I grew up with them.
Instead I’m left with a gaping hole,
where my heart is supposed to be.
I have too many nostalgic memories,
of old friends who I can’t even imagine now
and houses that probably are a home
to another more grateful family, not mine.
But don't get me wrong,
I'm not complaining.
I’ll go insane if I'm trapped in
a city for a year or two,
and I’ll always feel most at home
when I'm somewhere new.
I’ll never forget the feeling,
of relief, of pain, of joy,
when the airplane leaves the ground
and out the window, you see your old home,
fading away into the back of your mind
with the other memories,
now, just dust at the bottom of a locked box.
Forgotten forever, except…
I’ll hear the words and I know the drill.
It’s not final, but that’s always what they say.
And so, I stand up and I go into my barely moved in room.
I take the yearbooks and polaroid pictures,
unlock the box and put them in with the other ones.
And it's just enough time for the memories to come flowing back.
Clawing at my mind, in seconds I remember laughing,
the waves licking the shore. I remember their names and
the places I’ve been, and it eats me from inside.
I give myself one night to let it all out and then
I close the box and move on.
That’s the drill, sometimes I think I'm too familiar with it…
but then again I’ll go insane if I stayed here or anywhere.
I’ll be leaving in august.
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Canary word: Present
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125,005 Literary Works • 672,798 Reviews
Heyheyhey Mad!
This poem was really authentic - and not the bad, too-authentic kind, but the bittersweet kind that leaves us hanging. Especially that last stanza, since it's just this simple statement - but it's actually something more than that.
The transitions were beautiful, and the box in the second to the last stanza was something that stood out in the poem. The point of poetry is to open others to new perspectives - or to make them relate, and you managed to open up my mind. I always wanted to travel and experience different cultures, so when I hear that someone gets to go to different countries, I instantly think they're lucky. However, you proved that sometimes, when done too frequently, it leaves this empty feeling inside of you. I was able to understand the emotions one goes through with this situation.
I just have to give you a salute for that last stanza. I think that if I wrote this, that would be what I would write, and it just perfectly ties everything together. Ultimately, this poem made me want to write again.
Happy Writing~
Thank you and I'm really glad you liked my poem
Hey AliceAfternoon!
I really like Spoken Farewells. I think it's clever that in relatively simple diction you easily capture the weighty grief of leaving a home. In particular, I like, in the last stanza, how snippets of memories come racing back as the narrator locks up the box. The last line is a dose of stark, bitter reality that imo, perfectly ties up the poem. The narrator has maintained this lengthy dialogue with the reader that reaffirms itself against any subjectivities the reader may have ("don't get me wrong," "except..."); in contrast, the last line powerfully, stoically states the indisputable reality of the subject. Despite his anguish, the narrator must ultimately accept this fact & leave his home as a fading dot in the distance.
Well done!
Hi AliceAfternoon, acm here for a quick review!
I love this poem, for many reasons, but the biggest one is because I can understand and relate to it. My family moves every four years, sometime less, and I always wish that I had a permanent home. Your poem states this beautifully. I love the wording and how it all flows so well together. Your punctuation makes the poem easy to read, and the stanzas are all in the right places. My only nitpick is that, 'on your average two feet', would sound better as, 'on your two average feet'.
That's all I have in the way of a review. I can't wait to see more of your poetry!
--acm
I love your poem! I move a lot, so i understand leaving your old friends and missing them a lot, but then kind of a little excited about what is to come. I'm a little picky, but it would be cool if you added more stuff about how it felt when you remembered your friends and good times from before? I think others who have been in once place for a while might connect more that way. Also, I'm from Texas and my mom is from Louisiana, so that's cool! Just me making connections. Anyway, that's a really awesome poem!! Keep up the awesome work!!!