fb3902489d3e4867927e2e3a9fa2e998Older people used to tell me how time goes faster for every year

I think it is more that we let time go on, doing nothing to change our course

where before we would have done more to reach the point, we were seeking

what causes this I don’t know, maybe youth is intense, more packed into a year

maybe we stop believing we can change, or get lazy, or preoccupied or led by fear

I wasn’t very old when I learned fear can stop the neediest heart and leave her all alone

staring at walls in a black dress

eventually a day comes we see we have spent a long time watching for ships

as years passed by and we got into a rut of our own invention

it stuns me we can stay still for so long, neglecting our wants, our needs

as if they do not exist, pushing them down, hiding their force

just as we deny their existence, they surface and it’s like no time has passed

we are the same passionate creature we were before we forgot how

only older without much wisdom, just the feeling we didn’t do enough

for some of that may be vanity, our finite lives, the idea of a beginning and end

some of it may be true, who we thought we would be, or never considered

I envy those people who set a straight arrow and shoot and never seem to miss

not all of us are that precise or insightful or calculated

I drifted, partly because of distractions, partly out of inertia or sadness or a feeling of loss before I gained

acting like I had all the time in the world, that things would come still come my way

when everyone knows as you get older it gets harder

to generate that spark, that kindling, that damn irresistible flame

I’m also guilty of trying to assuage fear and you cannot live for such things

you must be bold or if not, pretend you are, for nothing, nothing was ever found by a coward

I have been afraid a long time, I have not trusted myself or my ability to survive without safety nets and hesitation

there was this picture in my mind of me

old and alone in poverty and I ran from that as if it were the cross

so much so I didn’t consider if my choices were really mine

or I was just responding to anxiety about something that may never come to pass

and you

the attention I gave you

all these years

were not spent wisely

for when it ended, I got nothing in return

nothing at all to show

it was in that way, a real error on my part

nobody likes to pour themselves inside out for someone

only to find it all goes up in smoke

I can’t say you were my undoing because

we have choices, but I definitely wasted myself on you

who could cut me out of your world like I was a paper doll

all the emotion I had, that was wasted too

there is nothing worse than feeling you gave everything and still it wasn’t enough

so forgive me if I feel bitter about that.

When we stand still, we calcify but don’t always turn hard

I still remember the feeling of dancing and wanting and longing

I remember thinking maybe life doesn’t have to be so beige

and un-passionate, that it can be wisteria

maybe life can be the way I feel now at this exact moment

imagining what it would feel like kissing you until our lips grew sore

despite so many people in this world it is not easy

to stare across a room and find

your familiar, the one who moves your blood

but I thought I found it in you, from the very first

Probably I was mistaken, it seems like risks are only suited to certain players

but tell me, if I was wrong, then why do I hold such indelible feelings?

why do I not walk away when it seems, the logical thing to do

when I close my eyes I see your face

I long to hold your hand and feel the light pulse in your small wrist

except if things were meant to be

they’d fit and you’d feel the same way, not be unmoved by chemistry

perhaps it is the story of my life

to find it so hard to fall and when I do, land on my face

perhaps I am not meant to be in someone’s arms

held, worshiped and adored, as you once said

was that a brush-off or just the truth?

who knows anymore it almost doesn’t matter

because I have tasted disregard many times in my life

to the point of knowing all the flavors it comes in

and if you don’t share my feelings

if I don’t make you want to jump up and run to me

if you don’t stay awake at night, your heart thundering

then I am not going to try to woo you

and I don’t want to be the girl, who has to try twice as hard

not when it comes to emotions, they either exist or they don’t

it just seems an irony, I pluck up courage and make a fool of myself

I was once told I should go find someone who’d be crazy about me

if that were possible maybe I would

but you’d be surprised what exists

and what does not

in this funny world of

lonely hearts

10 Replies to “Wisteria”

  1. I sat with this for a long time, debating on how to comment… I’m still unsure of the right words to say, but this…

    “nobody likes to pour themselves inside out for someone
    only to find it all goes up in smoke
    I can’t say you were my undoing because
    we have choices, but I definitely wasted myself on you
    who could cut me out of your world like I was a paper doll
    all the emotion I had, that was wasted too
    there is nothing worse than feeling you gave everything and still it wasn’t enough
    so forgive me if I feel bitter about that.”

    I wish I did not understand it so well.

    Write it out and there it is.

  2. Oh love. This is amazing. So many thoughts surrounding this one. But I can say that the people who really matter — the ones that deserve our attention — are going to be there for you when you need them. Not when it’s convenient for them. 💖

  3. Perhaps, love entirely unrequited is better than love only half requited, or outright rejection a less chronic pain than passionless disregard.

  4. Oh WOW, I loved this. The first part of the poem felt a little like looking in the mirror. I don’t have many regrets in my life but you interpretation of ‘time goes faster for every year’ and ‘we stop believing we can change’ so true. Then the second verse a reminder of what affect life has when trying to navigate through love; sad but essential. I really beautiful piece.

  5. Every line I feel like I’ve taken a step in your shoes. Loved this! “it stuns me we can stay still for so long, neglecting our wants, our needs” and this line hit for me the most. I feel like I didn’t really wake up until I was in my late 40s. Beautiful piece, Candice! <3

  6. I don’t think I did either my friend. I may still be sleeping in some ways ;)Seriously though. We do spend an awful long time neglecting our wants. It does us no good. It is wonderful you have flown from that place, the authenticity it brings will expand your soul I’m certain of it.

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