Thursday, June 21, 2012

HERE


HERE

Beneath the lacquer
the thin layer of shiny
the glossy
the new
and defined by such
Beautiful
and untouched
Kept up

Ready for the mounting
behind windexed glass
on top of polished wood
we are placed
Our chiseled bodies
Our coated faces
Shown off
Replaced

Look not at the grain underneath
Developed years of lines
The etching away of knots
and unusable ugliness
Acknowledge not the sanding away
The shaving of circle into square
Sandblasted and primed
into the newly socially acceptable

Illusion and delusion
Better and best
How we shine
from over there
above the fireplace
on the mantle
Brought out
Dusted off
Misplaced

We are just beneath the surface
desperately wanting to get out
To burn it away, this gloss
To melt it away, this façade
To say something, anything

To voice an opinion
Right or wrong
Good and bad
Different, yet same
To say, “I’m here”
I am here.

9 comments:

  1. i so know what you mean! i read this and thought, i have felt exactly this at certain times in my life. i like the final line especially. x

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  2. Great poem! You write so beautifully and with an hones tone. My favorite part is when you said, "We are just beneath the surface desperately wanting to get out." That statement is so true.

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  3. I have seen and known people like this--polished and put on display for others and for themselves too--and I always wonder about what is underneath. Good response to the prompt.

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  4. Excellent poem. Two-faced people and those who are simply a veneer and very false. We never really know who they are...

    Eileen

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  5. "I'm here. I am here." Yes, this is why we write! Loved this!

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  6. Well, I was going to comment on the same thing that Sherry did. So I will just add a 'ditto' to her comment! Nice to see you again here at Poets United.

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  7. Honest, beautiful writing.

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  8. Ginger this is achingly honest and beautiful writing!!

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  9. This is wonderful! I love the depth of your words and the insight we gain as we go from circle to square! Well Done

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