POETRY
Alone
A free verse prompted poem
You only see what you want to see:
me, standing all alone like a lone tree
in a field of wildflowers — silent
but you don’t know the journey to here
nor what it took to temper my rage
Like a psychic vampire — ravenous
you fed upon my rage, taunted me for more
and forced me to make a choice:
a deadly embrace in your smothering arms
or a life of blissful solitude
I can still see that look of disbelief
and your words still echo in my ears:
You’ll come back. Who else will want you?
Afterall, you’d molded me into nothingness
— stripped bare and ashamed
But I didn’t come back, did I?
I turned that rage into righteous indignation
and bit by bit, I gathered my land slides
laid down new roots — deeper than before:
unseen support systems became my norm
So now, when I notice you watching me
I close my eyes and dig in deeper:
I channel love and beauty though my veins
and connect with other hopeful survivors
— each of us alone, but entangled
©2024 Lori Carlson. All rights reserved.
I am participating in the PoCoChapMo ’24 over at The Poetry Cove, hosted by UK poet, Adam Gary. Monday’s prompt is ‘a lone tree in a field’.
