Data Day Tides Gone By
A pantoum after Tamyka Bell
We lost our way, and never made it back again.
As the sun climbed high into the sky, we
polished our scars to a high shine, a mirror
Reflected the deception of the purity of our souls.
As the sun climbed high into the sky, we
Stopped weary and worn at a lake, ripples on the water
Reflected the deception of the purity of our souls.
We wept for the old days when a simple life meant clean living.
Stopped weary and worn at a lake, ripples on the water
Couldn’t cleanse the brokenness in our sullied souls.
We wept for the old days when a simple life meant clean living.
We couldn’t stay and we couldn’t go.
Couldn’t cleanse the brokenness in our sullied souls.
Ambivalence and hesitation flooded our being like tsunamis.
We couldn’t stay and we couldn’t go.
There were no answers in the world for us to know.
Ambivalence and hesitation flooded our being like tsunamis
We were flattened by the power of our ignorance.
There were no answers in the world for us to know.
There was no peace in the sky above, and there was no love on earth below.
We were flattened by the power of our ignorance.
Yet in the complexity the siren song of simplicity grew deafening.
There was no peace in the sky above, and there was no love on earth below.
So we turned our backs to face the simplicity long lost in a haze of confusion.
Yet in the complexity the siren song of simplicity grew deafening.
And in our souls, we found the strength to chase its melody upright.
So we turned our backs to face the simplicity long lost in a haze of confusion.
And we prayed for one last chance to make it right.
And in our souls, we found the strength to chase its melody upright.
[We] polished our scars to a high shine, a mirror.
While we prayed for one last chance to make it right,
We lost our way, and never made it back again.
This poem is part of the Passing Pantoums project on Chalkboard. I borrowed a pair of lines from this pantoum:
