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the other half
by Ava Bluyou've always been able to write better than me
you'll sit down with one small image in your head and
thirty minutes later you've got over a thousand words better than any i could create
you've tried to give up a few times now
you keep sending off farewell messages around the globe
that no one really believes
but i know differently
i know you don't read the replies
i know you're really just waiting for me to walk away
long enough for you to dance up and down the street setting every house on fire
it's the way we play these games,
the way you never use your pawns and i keep losing my queen
it's the way you turn down movie roles and broken-down street vendors
with a calmness that speaks volumes
you really don't want to turn away from them
you walk down the stairs without any grace
and you slap my cheek with a rose
we've been going along with this charade for some time now,
long enough for one of us to start making bets against the other
we both end up losing, though
surely you know that by now
you'll just sit at the typewriter again,
smoke two packs of cigarettes
and promise me you're quitting after the next one
we both know how it will all play out
we know you don't really need the nicotine and whiskey
any more than i need a knife to my wrist
you're crafting a farewell message right now
holding onto a picture of us holding hands
we both knew it was coming
we knew you couldn't fight forever
you'll pull the pieces together and write a masterpiece
and i'll sit quietly under an oak tree and cry. 04/21/2010 Posted on 04/21/2010
Copyright © 2026 Ava Blu
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Gabriel Ricard on 04/21/10 at 03:50 PM Those last two lines strike the most vicious chord. I've always been a longtime fan of poems that can speak softly and leave nothing but bones in their wake, and this one certainly qualifies for that. This is poem of terrible insight and sadness. It reads as though it's in the middle of something with a conclusion that's already worked out. It's quite brilliant. |
| Posted by June Labyzon on 04/21/10 at 05:33 PM I agree those last two lines grabbed me, embraced my spirit....
"we knew you couldn't fight forever." Well done... |
| Posted by Matthew Sharp on 04/21/10 at 10:29 PM your heart is in there, it always has been..incredible... i feel it in my skin. |
| Posted by Morgan D Hafele on 04/22/10 at 03:36 AM cuts to the bone, and makes me think of times i hope not to live through again. |
| Posted by Julie Adams on 04/25/10 at 03:41 PM marvelous piece Ava, again and again such poems pour from your deep, thriving well...I love detail and how you craft it, like a fine embroidery on the page, kudos...with all the repetition of "you know" and "the way" I cannot help but applaud how you know the way to deliver a poem...I am always a fan, peace n poems to u star...~jewels xo |
| Posted by Richard Vince on 04/21/21 at 09:15 PM ouch. quietly yet primally powerful. as others have said, those last two lines pack the strongest punch. |
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