Poetry

Rewrites

freefab verse on a concrete slab

Image by Karen/Lyn Nobull from Pixabay

Please excuse the unsightly code block, but it’s the only way this poem will lay out properly on Medium. -TJ

If
   I tell the tale a hundred times
      a thousand times
         one more time
it ends
the same.

If
   I try a different meter
      a novel metaphor
         a harder rhyme
it ends
the same.

If
   I focus on the pain
      the regret
         the anger
it ends
the same.

If
   I draw forth tears
      distribute epiphanies
         get a laugh
it ends
the same.

If
   I have a change of heart
      find a new angle
         reinterpret facts
it ends
the same.

If
   I don’t rewrite it today
      don’t reweave it tomorrow
         don’t jiggle the shards until they line up just so
maybe it ends.

© Thomas James 2024. All Rights Reserved.

For the Curious: I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about rumination lately. Do you think that’s a problem?