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everyone will be my love


dr_con

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everyone will be my love

 

The threads of traffic

on the morning news

weave a landscape

quilts of modernity

since I don’t drive

I sit transfixed

 

bound to the unmapped

spaces between what is seen

what is forgotten and unfelt

My Father has a new family

 

An old road warrior

driving hours to reach relatives

a fishing spot or on vacation

as opposed to the daily occupation

of work and necessary commutes

In my rebellion

 

standing in the boat

protecting my brother

from predictable road hazards

castrating the frustration

of living with disappointment

long hours in an escape car

running from his parents

the cold logic of capitalism

and dissatisfaction

I vowed

 

never to become my Dad

his favorite story told in endless

loops of highways winding West

becoming a forest ranger for a summer

drink and guns firefighting with nights spent

in a smoldering redwood all the tastes forbidden

by his strict puritan mother and his Methodist father

He has mellowed and moved on

 

Found a woman opposite from my mother

has a stepson who embraces corporate life

justifies his lifestyle as a chemical engineer

in big oil and rather than a half-wild garden

he landscapes with tasteful choices

 

Like him my rebellion

becomes predictable

A road sign flashing by

46 seconds

 

And another billboard appears

creating other curbed boundaries

between civilization and wilderness

All memories of him behind the wheel

come from that time when he was my age

now.

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Hi DC, As usual I read your poems several times before they start to reveal themselves to me. Your work is complex, with many layers. This was an interesting revelation about your relationship with you father. I felt your father was someone from my world and I probably related to him more easily than you do.

 

I liked how you ended one strphe with the beginning line of the next pulling me along deeper into your road trip.

 

~~Tink

~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~

For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com

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Juris, I enjoyed this intensely personal, introspective poem. Hmmm ...

 

An old road warrior

driving hours to reach relatives

a fishing spot or on vacation

as opposed to the daily occupation

of work and necessary commutes ...

Sounds a bit like me.:unsure: Sans the war stories, of course:

 

... my Dad

his favorite story told in endless

loops of highways winding West

becoming a forest ranger for a summer

drink and guns firefighting with nights spent

in a smoldering redwood all the tastes forbidden

by his strict puritan mother and his Methodist father

He has mellowed and moved on

 

Found a woman opposite from my mother ...

How well expressed! I can't even call it a loss of ideal; it's more like growing up. And I understand it. As for this --

 

A road sign flashing by

46 seconds

 

And another billboard appears

creating other curbed boundaries

between civilization and wilderness

All memories of him behind the wheel

come from that time when he was my age

now.

-- I can say I've felt it before.

 

I loved this one. Good to see you again.

 

Tony

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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Tinker, Tony been out of the 'loop' for awhile- appreciate your perceptive feedback and your generous comments- will try to catch up soon!

 

Much Grace,

 

DC&J

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi dr_con,

 

I think S1 is a great opener. At first read I didn't quite get the last line of each stanza, but after reading Tinker's comment "the beginning line of the next", it makes much more sense to me now. The title "everyone will be my love", rather than "everyone is my love" hints that you're working towards making everyone your love?

 

It's always nice to read something about the poet's life.

 

Enjoyed,

 

Lake

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Thanks Lake! Well, honestly the title is taken from the piece before this, but it occurred to me as the most honest way to describe the impulse when growing up to succeed... The desire later morphed into many forms to be loved and liked- How one goes about it of course, is the unique but familiar tale;-)

 

DC&J

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  • 3 weeks later...

Juris, I like how in your poems the narrator stays almost always the same. This was a nice composition, and an interesting perspective of view.

 

Good to read this one.

 

Aleksandra

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth - Jean Cocteau

History of Macedonia

 

 

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