|
Alcatraz
by Maureen Glaudesoft words for a hard place
that mindÂ’s island*
my Alcatraz
ostracizing me
from the accepted
a prison that defines
differences in me
my grown children try to muffle
out in public, with their friends
hard words cast us apart
to set me, one of their first teachers
of language
adrift, alone
surrounded by harsh coastal inundations
stepping on coral growth, pink and intricately laced
but cruel to the touch
I do my time
thirsting for the soft words I know they will
bring to my rescue
after the tide goes out again
having smoothed the rough edges of my own
*the opening stanza is from At Bay by Susan Glickman 02/23/2004 Author's Note: Draft, critique welcome.
Posted on 02/23/2004
Copyright © 2024 Maureen Glaude
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Kate Demeree on 02/23/04 at 04:09 PM I like it just the way it is Mo.... Funny isn't it how children change as they grow? Sometimes it's hard on a parent. |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 02/23/04 at 05:11 PM The first thing that popped into my head upon reading this was a line from the Eagles' Hotel California: we are all prisoners here of our own device. Your poem of course goes deeper in that it's a good reminder that we are sometimes prisoners of either our own or others' perceptions. As always, thought provoking read. |
| Posted by Michele Schottelkorb on 02/24/04 at 04:49 PM i agree with you... i prefer the ending with my own... although, hard words isn't necessarily bad, just rougher... excellent analogy of life... what a comparison most would not have thought of, yet, it so fits... brilliant... blessings... |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 02/25/04 at 02:03 AM Excellent piece of writing. Sincerity is so evident. Great analogy. Title grabbed me! A favorite of yours for me. |
| Posted by Christina Bruno on 02/28/04 at 08:14 AM i like your poem a lot. i get into fights with my mom..lol but we always make up. great job |
| Posted by Susan Q Tomas on 03/17/04 at 07:54 PM I seem to interpret this a little different. I see what you are saying about teenaged children being embarrassed by what you say, but what I get out of it is how words can isolate you. I seem to isolate myself with my words, and the stanza that makes me relate is "my Alcatraz, ostracizing me rom the accepted" I seem to ostracize myself by speaking. |
|
