Come On
In Your Bones, Poem 7
“You gotta lotta nerve telling us not to come to your funeral. We gotta see your mouth shut just once.”
The inspiration for this poem…
OK, I am busted! This poem was me letting loose, saying something unspeakable, making people with loving fathers want to turn and run. But don’t get me wrong- as unbelievable as it may seem, my father actually wanted children who could speak their minds. He just never intended for them to speak up at his expense. However, he almost invited it by how loose his own lips were! But I am convinced that a part of him may have smirked a little at this poem as he was always egging me on to stand up to him even though it only happened few and far between in his lifetime. However, being well educated he would not have appreciated how I played with the words (ie. outta, gotta lotta…) to make it purposefully seem much rougher (to match the feeling). Although I couldn’t write these words until he was gone, it needed to be said for my own benefit even if I missed the chance to catch his reaction. It has made all the difference to my mental health to be able to speak my mind, finally.
Writing/Meditation Prompts:
OK, your turn…who do you need to ‘let loose’ on?? Writing lets you go for it!
Do you need to play with the language to match how it felt in spite of how it might have actually gone down (Poetry lets you do that!)??
Write your own Come On… poem to let someone know you’re frustrated and it’s time for them to get real! (I’m asking you to __________…)
How might you share your writing (an important part of that extraction process, not to mention the writing process!)? Does someone need to hear this??