Friday, May 28, 2010

Collecting



we collect
pieces
of each other
like
charm bracelets
or puzzle pieces
fashioned
into meadows
of blue skies
or parchment
or hurricane orgasms
wetting our
dry wheat plains

we collect
pieces
of each other
only pieces
because
we really
never wanted
the whole

16 comments:

Linda S. Socha said...

Powerful.....true....but not always because of lack of desire for the whole....This post was a connection for me as I have begun assembling a writing of Vignettes
of connections of people I have known/know....Interesting intersection
Linda

Chatterbox said...

A wonderful thought...something that probably everyone of us does.But I had never thought about it this way :)

Kep up the wonderful work Jason :D

SzélsőFa said...

interseting point - most of the time people complain about their partner wanting too much... some others complain about ignorance within a partnership.
i think we should want the whole, but not in the usual way...hm.. you got me thinking here ;)

Karen said...

Do you think maybe we feel this way if we are whole, ourselves? I've known some people who want everything. They suck you dry if you let them.

Felicity Grace Terry said...

How true. I wonder what people would think if ever they got to see the 'whole' me?

Terri said...

The first stanza is sweet; it has a lovely whimsical feel... the second is a bit like a slap in the face. The cold hard truth. A little bit sad, really.
On the whole, quite a piercing experience.
Well done.

Laurel said...

Such a powerful ending.

Bernita said...

I suppose we only want the pieces that fit our own puzzle and make us complete.

Oddyoddyo13 said...

Wow, this was so amazing and powerful. If only some of the pieces would fit together.

Anonymous said...

OMG.. what an amazing piece. So true! I love your words..

Mona said...

Wow! that is so well said! Pieces are sometimes valuable too, since with them we can archaeologically reconstruct an image of value!

Anonymous said...

**To Everyone**

Thanks for all the thoughts on this poem! In retrospect, I'm thinking that "never wanted" is ambiguous. I meant that in reaction to what we find, not something we knew in advance. I think we do want people to resonate, augment, or complete us. Invariably, though, we find rubs and things that threaten or hurt us. After all, people weren't made for our benefit. They have their own lives and issues. Those rubs and sharp points are the things we don't add to our collection and if we're being honest, wish were not there.

Anonymous said...

Linda, that sounds like a very close convergence of ideas!

Chatterbox, we all wear our charm bracelets.

Szelsofa, when we feel that urge to pull away, that's one of those traits in the other person that we don't really like.

Karen, I think the more whole we are, the more we are happy with the charm bracelets we get, rather than ones wish we had.

Petty Witter, everyone would cozy up to a different percentage of the whole, I think.

Terri, the poem was an exploration of the negative side, the second stanza, so yes, I did find it softly sad.

Laurel, thanks!

Bernita, ultimately yes. We see out of our own eyes first and our wants.

Oddyoddyo13, over time, I think we learn to accept more and to quiet some of our wants. I'd never want to see desire fade completely, though.

Sashindoubutsu, welcome to my blog and thank you for following! I look forward to seeing your writing too.

Mona, I do think pieces are valuable. And natural. Maybe this poem is about boundaries. For ourselves and allowing other people to have their own space.

awareness said...

My first reaction was to laugh because your thoughts in this poem struck the "bingo" chord in me. My goodness, we don't even know the whole of ourselves, and probably couldn't handle it if we woke up tomorrow knowing all of our bits. Can you imagine believing we could really know the whole of someone else?

Plus, you're right..... who wants to? then, there wouldn't be anything to look forward to finding out.

We dwell best in mystery.... it's what motivates us every single day to learn about eachother and ourselves.

ps. I do like your comment here about boundaries too.

Mona said...

You are so right about that! Of course there will be boundaries, no matter what!

& that is THE only healthy attitude!

Anonymous said...

Awareness, you're right. You can never know the whole. We usually stop anyway when the negatives stop racking up. It's like a dark lottery. At that point, the next thing were learn tends to be something that makes us unomfortable.

Mona, boundaries let us accept what we get, I suppose.