Mish hosts Poetics in the Pub ~ and it's all about 'abstraction'
regret walks the halls
an old man in a tattered coat
pockets heavy with the stones of yesterday
pacing at night
his fingers tracing the chipped edges
of doors he never dared open
his voice a whisper in the dark
~ 'should have' 'could have' 'didn't' ~
snaking through cracks in walls
curling under beds
slipping into dreams of those who
swore they had made peace with him
sometimes he knocks sometimes he lingers
in the corner of your eye
a hand on your shoulder
when you thought you were alone
he is not cruel only persistent
patient, waiting for you to stop
to turn, to listen
This is rather brilliant, Helen, and truly captures all those pockets full of stones of regret...all the should haves. Really well done.
ReplyDeleteLove the way you seemed to climb right into "regret" to bring out every aspect of the emotion with those human qualities and descriptions. This is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWow this is a wonderful personification of regret. I felt so sorry for him in his tattered coat weighing him down.
ReplyDeleteWow. Reget is the garment i wouldn't choose to wear
ReplyDeleteNice one Helen
Much♡love
An excellent personification of regret, Helen, with his ‘pockets heavy with the stones of yesterday’, although it’s a little bit creepy that he’s there ‘in the corner of your eye / a hand on your shoulder / when you thought you were alone’, but then, regret does creep up on us.
ReplyDeleteI know that guy! With his heavy sighs and shadow pacing to my weary steps. My doom companion. Nicely wryly done.
ReplyDeleteWow. You did the personification so well, Helen. Brilliant. Wow again. Thank you so much. Xoxo, selmamartin.
ReplyDeleteI feel him walking beside me... persistent, always waiting... and so scary
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful poem, Helen. I love what you have done. The stones we carry... so true.
ReplyDeleteOh, he is definitely persistent! Wonderfully done, Helen.
ReplyDeleteWhat an appropo depiction of time as an old man with heavy pockets and "a hand on your shoulder"! This poem makes a vivid impression, Helen.
ReplyDeleteYou defined regret perfectly, Helen. Great images!
ReplyDelete