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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

That Was All -- NaPoWriMo 2, 2013

Today's prompt is to write a poem of lies: a string of lies, an outrageous lie, etc.  Sorry, my efforts seem pretty sophomoric today...It's a counted-syllable poem, that might be why...


That was all

You looked at me, looked through me,
through those bottomless eyes,
eyes that said come, be with me,
I want you.
That was all.

I apologized; I knew
I was talking too much,
but you said that's no problem.
You listened.
That was all.

It seemed to me a promise,
I think you thought so too.
We promised for a lifetime,
That was that.
That was all.

So then we started living,
happily ever after,
like married partners do.
It was hard.
That was all.

Through sun and storm, high water
we came to understand
the price of happiness:
more than gold.
That was all.

If anybody tells you
it's a bed of roses
they may be lying, or
they don't know
that it was all

originally a lie.
                   -- by Shirley Smith Franklin






4 comments:

  1. I love it...you did this very well. Why do you say sophomoric? :)
    (my lie poem is scheduled for Friday)
    I actually think her prompts are easier this year (so far) but my brain is mush apparently.

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Lynn. I felt better about it as I re-read it, but that was my original impression!
      I'm glad for the daily challenge and my determination to just 'wing it,' to keep me literarily-bent during
      especially busy family times!

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  2. This says so much! It is beautiful all the way through, and then you end it with, "originally a lie." That made me wonder. I think marriage starts off with some pretty high promises, that get lost along the way, and then float toward the surface again once you settle into it. I have been married for 10 years, and love it immensely, but there were seasons a couple years in that were tough. I think, in our day, lots of people stop at the first struggles, and never get to the fulfillment of all those promises, that begin to materialize over time. You put this together beautifully!

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    1. Thank you...as I wrote, thinking, uhhh, do I really want to sound so negative, I was hoping to write just what you expressed. If we hang in there, there are many opportunities for renewal. But the bed of roses is never without its thorns; the apple didn't make the first couple on a par with God, nor the garden their heaven on earth!

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