by jc jaress
She ended it with the slamming of a door that had begun to chip the paint from around the jamb One day she’d slam that door and knock all the paint off of everything and he would just stand there Still
There was no sign or warning No look in her eye No twitch No minor hesitation And then, as if out of nowhere, she would lay 14-years of marriage across his face with a swift, flat hand that reeled the memories in his already spinning brain It wasn’t fair It was never fair As a child he had lived this same way for too many years, Until that day, as a young man, when he caught his mother’s hand in mid-strike and held it there Just a little too tightly And a little too long And told her, “Never again.” But not this one He never stopped her He just stood And took it And never raised a hand She was just too close to him Or maybe he was too close to her And it didn’t seem to matter on which side he chose Like trying to pick between two long lines at the checkout stand and always guessing wrong There was no winning in it for him Just chipping paint And so many things left untold
Burning Word has never refused to address an issue and this poem has a lot of raw anguish in it, as well as poetic bent, so I vote to post it. But I challenge the author to write another one on the same subject in a year. Or ten years. There’s more to this than he is saying…
I like this. Not a “soap opera”-write, but a true slice-of-life. This is well-written and interesting, full of subtle observations and wonderful cinematic images where you could practically see the characters interacting. I vote it gets posted.
and the willingness to tackle non-popular issues
with tact – is opportunity knocking at a writer’s door–
Im glad you answered.
You did a good job bringing out the underbelly of the issue which encouraged the reader to empathize with the subject!
I want to know what became of this guy! Maybe a trilogy?
Maggie
Sorry for the delay in responding; this is my first time here and I just figured out HOW to get to the comments. He lives a long and wonderful life that is becoming a series of connected pieces – poems, musings and shorts like my other post “Drowning In Water (w/ a thanks to Bukowski”.
Thanks again,
JC
I agree. This deserves a follow-up.
I like this straight-forward approach to pain.