I Drive

It was the winter of my life,

when I first took to the road.

I once had dreams of becoming a poet- 

They were shattered into a million pieces 

more numerous than the stars.

~

My mother always told me

I had the soul of a chameleon.

I had no moral compass pointing south.

I had no reliable personality.

Just an inner indecisiveness

as wide and as wavering as the ocean.

~

It was that indecisiveness

that drove me to a nomadic point of madness

that both dazzled and dizzied me.

I learnt then that it takes having everything,

and then losing it and more

to know what true freedom is.

~

I believe in myself.

I believe in who I am.

I believe in who I will be.

But most of all,

I believe in the kindness of strangers.

~

When I'm at war with myself,

I take to the road.

I drive, I just drive.

What I say to you,

I say to all.

~

Live fast.

Die young.

Be wild.

Have fun.

A/N: This is a monologue from Lana Del Rey's song ride. Feel free to look up the original. I translated the piece into Irish Gaelic myself, then back to English and put it into a poem, so please still feel free to critique me!

Comments & reviews · 2
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User avatar
Rosella
Review
Rosella wrote a review · Fri Sep 30, 2016 2:06 pm

Hey there! Rose here to give lil view and state of opinion :) (I'm a beginner so I'm not that good with reviews heh) (Also this was in the green room and had to take the chance)

This is honestly the first time I have read a lyrical poem and actually the first time I have seen the idea of translating a song from a different language than back to English so excuse me if my review isn't as detailed or in depth as I wish it was, I'm still practicing :P

First off, I really really like this. Even if the lyrics weren't specifically written by you, I enjoyed reading it because I felt as if I could actually feel what the words were saying. The word choice was unique yet simple to understand.

In my opinion, there is nothing I would change about this in any way. The story that goes along with these lyrics send a very important message about finding your freedom and believing in yourself.

I love the way you did the stanzas and I basically enjoyed reading this a bunch, as I have basically made that obvious by now!

But keep up the good work and nice ideas. You get a like from me! This poem was lovely and maybe I will read more lyrical poems now

Thank you so much for your kind review!

~Kazey

User avatar
JuliasSneezer
Review

*Drops from ceiling* Good day! Just Roman' around to drop an interview!

I'm not a poetry reviewer. I have expressed this many times. But I love Lana Del Ray's music, and your poetry. Who could pass up that type of opportunity?

Right. Now to the actual reviewing. I liked the first part of your poem, where you mentioned it being the winter of your life, etcetera. I like it because despite the fact that it's poetry, you're letting us know that there's a story behind this. A real story. This makes the readers very curious.

Next, you say that your mother said you had the soul of a chameleon. "what? why?" Is what we ask whenever we read that, and you gave us a true-blue reason as to why she said that. I especially like how you compared your indecisiveness to a wide ocean. I just REALLY like it for some reason.

Then you carry on with the whole indecisiveness thing, which I am surprised at, really. I expected it to just be something that fit in with the poem and then you moved on. I'm really liking how you're making it a bit of a recurring theme. Then you're telling us how you learned to appreciate freedom, which was a lovely touch.

You were then going on about how you believe in yourself, your future, and then the kindness of strangers. I REALLY like this.

Then you have that next thing about driving whenever there's an internel struggle, which then ties into the last bit, making it a smooth transition into the end. All in all, a fantastic ending. Fantastic job!

Just keep swimming,
-'Lias

Thank you very much!

~Kazey



You must believe in free will; there is no choice.
— Isaac Bashevis Singer