Questions I Never Asked

by BT

Thursday 23rd February 2012 2:57 am (first posted Wednesday 22nd February 2012 11:15 pm)

From the hallway,

I am hidden

I watch my father lay in the stillness

Eyes open,
he is somewhere farther away than I have ever been

He is fixed upon the tree limbs

against the grey sky

and I am fixed upon his expression

and all those secrects that he does not tell

I watch quiety,

trying desperatly to understand

to read meaning in each line of his tired face

searching for answers to questions

that have not yet formed

and I do not know how to ask

With a gulp

I swallow them down

leaveing these question in the hall

and my father behind

lost to the dying winter light

Comments

Laura Taylor

Fri 24th Feb 2012 10:19

Interesting piece - I like how you've placed the unasked and unanswered questions in there...there's a sense of 'hidden' and making the reader work and think, which is always a good thing!

'I am fixed upon his expression' - that's a great follow-on from your father being fixed on tree limbs (but I struggled a bit with that couplet tbh).

That line 'with a gulp I swallow them down' reminds me of a line from the first poem I ever saw Rachel perform...the one that spurred me into writing in the first place. Her poem was about her dad, and the line went 'I learned to swallow lumps for breakfast' - and it crucified me at the time.

Great poem :)

Rachel Bond

Thu 23rd Feb 2012 00:05

thanks barbi...i have to get my proper poetry head on for that one i dont know where i put it!!

just blogging right now till the flow flows. thanks for your encouragement x

bees and honey theres never enough ::)

Barbi Touron

Wed 22nd Feb 2012 23:31

Oh and definitely not an author, and professional
never have been in all my years.

Barbi Touron

Wed 22nd Feb 2012 23:29

I adore this, you are so beautiful, if this is sitting in the reject bin, dump the the the entire bin on the floor and gather it up right quick. Really, it just doesn't get better than this. Amazing, you win!!

i would wrap myself in the honey and rust of bees
and Tartar pelts
for the lighting of snow
to lips im ecstatic
and sleep for the hundred year freedom of sex

More of this please!!

Rachel Bond

Wed 22nd Feb 2012 23:23

woah the more i read the more i think you are a professional author in disguise trying out some new tricks.

leaving these questions in the hall.

theres loads great lines in this x

i found this today:

i would wrap myself in the honey and rust of bees
and Tartar pelts
for the lighting of snow
to lips im ecstatic
and sleep for the hundred year freedom of sex

it was in an old journal i wrote in 2007 and was a bit that was in the reject bin from another poem 'so poor the martyr'. ilike it now, thought you might too x

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Questions I Never Asked

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