|
Whiskey-Tears
by Aaron BlairSorry brings out your whiskey-tears,
the amber of Jim Beam staining the whites
of your eyes the color of sun-yellowed paper,
irises floating above crumbling scrolls.
The water from your face drops, joins the rest of
the ocean you have made, a little stir, but then
calm again, the surface only changed for a moment,
then back to its unending same, the history of
your tears unlearned from, and quickly discarded.
I wade in, the current of your million false
repentances swirling around my legs, pulling me
down, the quiet dark and wet a fitting punishment.
You will ask for my forgiveness one more time,
and I will never be able to give it to you. 03/07/2004 Author's Note: Another poem written for the writing.com slam. The prompt was to write a poem based on a proverb. I picked a Japanese one. "Forgiving the unrepentant is like drawing pictures on water." This poem is about my father.
Posted on 03/08/2004
Copyright © 2024 Aaron Blair
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Jeanne Marie Hoffman on 03/08/04 at 01:27 PM This piece is powerful... I keep rereading it... I guess it just "hits the spot" too well |
| Posted by Leslie Ann Eisenberg on 03/09/04 at 06:27 AM ditto to the above, and the second stanza is a stunner!!!! |
| Posted by Quinn Vokes on 03/10/04 at 01:59 AM you did such a wonderful job with such a touchy subject... and using the water metaphor was perfect - "I wade in, the current of your million false repentances swirling around my legs." ~Que |
|
