New poem

Lost

This silence contains cold clouds of
remembered laughter and soft sighs
that dwell no longer here.
I cannot see through this fog,
and the light I carry
only reflects confusion.
It does not illuminate,
and I am lost
on paths I should know.
Hands outstretched, stumbling,
lashed by things
not noticed on this walk before,
I don’t even know my wounds,
and my world is undefined.

Copyright 2006.

Somewhere this year, my poetry got lost. I've missed it. I've collected phrases and snippets of thoughts, lists of images and ideas, all creative gifts I didn't want to lose but couldn't seem to use. I haven't seemed able to finish anything. Part of this has been my perfectionism beating at me. I didn't like what I was writing. I didn't feel like it was up to snuff. Part of it is that it's very easy to set one's creative life aside when working through problems that seem more urgent. I know that's always a mistake for me. So, I decided that I was going to finish something. It didn't have to be long. It didn't have to be good, but it did have to express at least one complete thought. At that, I succeeded with this poem. It's not a good poem. I completely left the original image I had planned behind, and I still want to use that in another poem. However, this is a poem, and it is finished, and that is good. For that alone, I wanted to share it.

(Just a side note, it doesn't describe how I am now, but I've been there.)

poetry