Waking, shaking in the
Soon-to-be-sister-in-law's bed
Words resonating in
Her head, chest
"DO NOT MARRY HIM"
Heart thumping
Tongue thick
Lips tucked tight
Flight imminent
Then
Ignorant of calamity
Door opens and her betrothed
Shoots a smile of delight
Her brain stomps
The rebel edict
Lips curl, automatic
Faux happy
And her gut churns acid disgust
Days and weeks the battle
Ensues, heart beating
The brain, until the ace
Is drawn and played
"No one else will love you."
Chills her through
And she succumbs
White-dressed and smiling
She says "I do"
And four years later,
"I won't"
Lessons learned
The hard way through
Heart knows what
The brain don't
And the amygdala lies, too
PS Happy ending--listened to Heart, found soulmate--married 24 years, 2 wonderful sons and an amazing stepdaughter, plus Max the Wonderdog who chases my latest mistake (never should have fed the ducks, but that's another poem)
From the "Mistake" prompt at poetryjaam.blogspot.com, would have liked to have written a poem that went along with Sinatra's words-- "Mistakes, I've had a few, but then again too few to mention..." but that would have been a mistake...
This is brutal ~~ and brilliant!!
ReplyDeleteHi Helen! yes, this was a painful write--thank you for your lovely compliment
DeleteThat was a major mistake! He knew just the words to use to make her follow through with the wedding. A very tragic / sad situation, but at least she found her way out of it four years later and didn't stick it out for life. A strong response to the Poetry Jam prompt. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary! It was pretty major, but like all mistakes, a valuable lesson that translated into later happiness
Deleteoh man...that is a hard one to have to live with...and not tell yourself i told you so as well....and she hopefully emerges from it still to life...
ReplyDeleteOh yes, happy ending *smile* hard to live with until I made my peace--made me appreciate what I have now
DeleteListen to your guts....lessons learnt, better late than never.
ReplyDeleteYep, I tend to have to push that envelope and then wonder why I see the same thing in my kids ;-) Thank you for stopping by and commenting!
DeleteHi Loredana! Yep, better late than never. Really loved your poem and images. Thank you for the compliment :-)
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you met and then married your real soul mate. do we ever listen to good advice when it comes to matters of the heart? I don't think our minds even listen, do they?
ReplyDeleteLovely.
Thank you! Yes, I feel very lucky. You are right about that our minds can be very sneaky...:-)
DeleteThis is so well put together, the knowledge that a decision is wrong, the going through with it anyway, and he recovery are beautifully and clearly conveyed here.
ReplyDeleteThank you Victoria, that is beautiful compliment (almost a poem in itself)
DeleteDifficult situation for sure. Glad it had a happy outcome eventually.
ReplyDeleteThank you Peggy
DeleteThank goodness for happy endings (and divorce attorneys too!) This is one I can totally relate to, nicely penned!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary M. Fortunately there was minimal assets and animosity. Though the attorney did help keep it simple...as simple as that kind of thing can be...
DeleteDeep smile
ReplyDeleteGreat comment Esther:-)
DeleteYou have perfectly described my gut, screaming at me, years back, while my Head stubbornly refused to listen, and I marched towards the guillotine. Yes, lessons learned. I'm so glad next time was the right one, for you:)
ReplyDeleteSherry, so sorry that you shared this experience. Very happy to see the wonderful life you have built for yourself since. :-) Always appreciate your warm words.
DeleteLive and learn, eh? ♥
ReplyDeleteBut now, could you learn to live without that dratted word verification? I swear, it gets worse every week - now we have fuzzy numbers to contend with, as well as letters! :)
That's what it's all about:-)
DeleteOh that was bad, but there is always goodness left for us to embrace...yes like jinksy asked..Live and learn...
ReplyDeleteBeautifully put Sreeja :-)
DeleteThank you so much for stopping by and commenting