Just like that,
Talking to somebody,
Laying on the charm.
In the moment that you see them, you know--
This is why the soul must be able to slip out of the body;
Because the body remembers,
And when it does,
It is no fit place for anything holy to abide.
There were the weeks after,
Of remembering how to breathe,
How to eat,
How to sleep...
How to get up in the morning,
Make the coffee,
Walk the dog.
Each little victory was made of paper-thin faith and the help of friends--
Those few you could even tell what happened.
Come on, girl,
Stand up.
Move in the world again,
Albeit not as carelessly as before.
In time, the soul slips back in, by teaspoonsful.
Then one day, there they are,
The one with the axe to grind,
The one who treated you as not even human;
Talking to somebody,
Laying on the charm,
Just as if they were.
__________
Move in the world again,
ReplyDeleteAlbeit not as carelessly as before.
God, isn't that the truth? You are so good at putting feelings into words.
Brillant write on the way we allow certain people throughout life to do this to us....pull the soul right out of us...almost to the point of destruction....do not walk that line anymore...the soul is to precious for that....
ReplyDeleteEnough of my thoughts...on life...I love the description ...the three stanza...of pulling the self back up and sip the soul back in teaspoon by teaspoon.....bkm
Oh, gosh, I know this. I've been here. And you've described it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteSo hard to guard the heart when a soul collector is around...and hard to pick up the pieces when they are gone...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Shay.
Yeah.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. And the soul fights to leave all over again. I have almost convinced mine to return fully. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this Shay.
Been there too !!! sadly more than once.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you use words, gal. "In time the soul slips back in by teaspoonsful". Wonderful! "Move in the world again" - a beautiful world out there, with wonderful things waiting down the road for you. Great writing, as always!
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeletenice shay...all too familiar feel...got one of those here in the blog world actually...
ReplyDeleteWhat can be said about this poem? About that careless person? About your words of tender heartbreak that find their way to our hearts?
ReplyDeleteI wish there were words for the beauty and simple tragedies of some of your poems,but there are not, so my words fumble to say you are the poet of this century, and the next.
xo
You express so beautifully how that feels - the person that messed with your heart suddenly appearing.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of those moments that's both surreal yet all-too-real. You captured it well.
ReplyDeleteOne day there they will be and they will be nobody.
ReplyDeleteFabulous stuff! The things we let people do to us...but you have shown it with some great sense of description. Well done.
ReplyDeleteOh, lovely you, that feeling of seeing someone be other than what they are to you. That feeling of wondering why they are that way with them and not with you. Ugh. I know that.
ReplyDeleteRemember, even if you forget everything else, you are lovable and lovely and worthy of charm and being treated like a goddess.xo
been there done that but not as eloquently as you .. xo
ReplyDeleteThat first verse is deep. Wow! If only we could move on and forever be unaffected by what hurt us...but the slightest remembrance can take us back.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you ended this.
ReplyDeleteYou are a great poet
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
i think many of us could relate to this piece...and you have captured it eloquently! :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely great, an iconic expression of a universal feeling.
ReplyDeleteOh, girl. This just IS.
ReplyDeleteJust. WOW.
"This is why the soul must be able to slip out of the body;
ReplyDeleteBecause the body remembers,
And when it does,
It is no fit place for anything holy to abide."
Wow.
I know this probably isn't about getting sober, but it could be. Ya know?
This is a great poem. I felt the anguish of seeing the soul thief ... the end really resonated with me. I think SO many people feel like this for a ton of different reasons.
ReplyDeleteI just want to repeat it:
"The one who treated you as not even human;
Talking to somebody,
Laying on the charm,
Just as if they were."
It's that real raw reaction ... that human reaction & to top it off it flows well & paints the pain well.
Great Write!