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| Looking Back by Astrid Knudsen |
With short hair and deep eyes
Considers me with palpable
negative vibes.
Surely there is no good news
from the future.
Didn’t it all go wrong?
All the same,
there is hope
hiding there.
I know,
because it bubbles up in me,
still,
whatever happens.
I say to her:
Stick at it.
Be confident.
Aim for the best job,
the best house,
the best man.
Make the most of your youth.
Make time for family,
they will always be there.
And when you find a real friend
never let go.
You will stop feeling sad - eventually.
Finding your place in the world
will help,
And having a child of your own to love.
Make sure you do this, whatever happens.
And bad things will happen.
But you will survive them.
Don’t let your trust and love
be squashed.
I love you.
Many others will love you.
I am in you - and you in me.
There is a long life ahead of you,
And I don’t know the ending.
But everything changes.
Nothing - good or bad - lasts.
Live for each moment.
Be free.
Be you.
ANOTHER ME
When we met,
I hesitated.
Should I tell her
what I see?
How could I
withhold my guidance?
She should have
a better life than me.
Could I really let her:
stick with the wrong man,
live in dark for so long,
ignore potential death pain,
pick the wrong man again?
But then,
would she have a beautiful son,
And end up in this
friendly, tumbling town?
As I began to speak,
picking my way
through the minefield
of time travel,
I gradually faded away.
4 comments:
This poem is deceptively simple and very moving. And I love the way it questions whether we would do it all again, despite our mistakes, because of the good that came too. I think the last verse is very effective 🙂
You’ve so answered the implicit question of this month’s task - can you put an old head on young shoulders? Not really. You seem about to try, but then you ‘gently fade away’. A perfect ending.
I've been contemplating my own version of the prompt.. I think it's drifting more along your lines!
This poem is both deep and reflective. Like you, I often ponder over how I could have done things differently in my youth, and contemplate on what the possible outcome might have been if I did
Adam
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