Friday, November 24, 2006

Sweeney

This is a poem I wrote that addresses the impossibility of expressing emotional reactions to other human beings:

I was on the edge of my seat,
When the play ended.
I could not stand up
For a full five minutes.

I was shaking.

Never had I seen something
Like this,
That so moved me, I could
Only express myself in groans.
Words were insufficient.

As the words slowly trickled
On the way home,
I told my friend I had to
Get the album.

I listened in the car
Over and over again.
“Johanna, Johanna…”
In a world of my own,
All that emotion
Flooding me,
Heating me,
Watering my eyes.

In the back of the store, cleaning the mats,
I wanted to share my passion.
I started singing, and I got
Louder.
I was told to keep it down,
This was work.

How do you share a passion
That is so deep, quiet words
Cannot do it justice?
How can I make you feel
What I feel?

I see
Why artists are poor.
A vibrating soul
Cannot be bought
Or even shared.
I can never truly communicate
With words.

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