it's not like we had reason
to pretty ourselves, older
boys only wanted one thing an
you don't need looks for that---
their attention was cool water
on parched lips, baked chapped
by home life and teacher's gazes
letting some boy wiggle inside
your skin might be sin
but for a few moments you was
queen, adored and wanted---
my babys got his daddy's eyes,
to remember him by, and some
nights he lets me sleep, but i
lay awake and wonder will i
ever feel that way again, once
i turn sixteen---
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
74 comments:
Dude. Profound!
so sad.
and true.
You have most amazing insight.
Oh my. I had to think about that one for a second, DUH. That is really a wonderful yet sad post.
How very very sad. And probably happening right this very minute.
That's heart-wrenching. And like DJan said, happening everywhere, every day.
yeah its based on an all too true story...and trying to get the 17 year yr old dad to see the other side...
Brian, this poem stands out for me as visceral and powerful. It should be read in the right contexts at school at just those vulnerable ages.
ugh. this is one of things that is never going to go away; there is no good answer in a p.c. society
Brilliant.
I had to read it twice to fully take it in but yes, i really like the progression in this
You certainly got into the mind of an opposite-sex adolescent.
Oh wow! Did you hit the nail on the head with that one!
Super sad. Super true for too may young girls. Everyone loses something here.
So, so true and so sad for so many girls, lost and discarded for so little.
soulful! beautiful write, Brian!
This is beyond sad...where are the people who should be giving this girl self esteem??
I think it is wonderful that you have this medium to release all the stories that you come across every day. You see some sad things, but give it such beauty.
Peace to you my friend.
Luck was on my side, or this might have been my story, too.
Those poor girls, lonely and looking for validation... heartbreaking.
I could tell where that was going. Again, so well put, Brian.
Heartbreaking.
Wow. Sad, but true.
Once again you've brought a subject to life that is all too real. I see young girls pushing stroller's with their friends just trying to be 16. I can't imagine being a parent at that tender age, I was married, owned a home and was 25 when we had our first child and I still wasn't ready to parent. I wish you luck with the father, and thank God you walk among us my friend.....
Things one does to feel loved..wanted..cherished. And its all an illusion anyway. And falling in love complicates things further.
Wait until you have a 16 year old and you witness their young love(s)..you will feel that way or remember... if just for a moment...
Wait until you have a 16 year old and you witness their young love(s)..you will feel that way or remember... if just for a moment...
thank you, friend.
thank you, for your prayers.
ps: this is tender.
but for a few minutes you was queen-adored, wanted.
There is a degree to which I relate to this and I wish that wasn't true. Hardhitting.
Whoa...that is such a heavy poem. And not even sixteen yet??? Too bad they are in such a hurry to get someplace when that "someplace" is no place special. And, when they are young like that, most often it doesn't lead to much of anything positive. Unless they have great will and can surmount the struggles and challenges. Good insight Brian.
Whoa. My heart just broke a little bit.
Wow. jj
What talent - to artfully capture this sad and sadly common story in your words. So well done Brian.
Ouch! That's a painful read on so many levels. But it's also awesome.
This been happening always, but we didn't 'talk' about it in the 40's, 50's.
Like when my mother said, "Steve, I am SO happy you are in Alcoholics Anonymous, but please don't 'tell' anybody, Okay"?
PEACE to the world and all else!
So touching. The innocence of teens lost, taken away in one single moment...
Beautiful and profound, only the way you can convey it.;)
And yes, I too long for simplicity, by each year more and more...;)))
Have a great Thursday dear friend,
xoxo
OMG Brian, you got it soooo right. Sad that it's so commonplace now.
Oh my! What a powerful post Brian!
This is so true! No plans, and no clue!!!
Hugs
SueAnn
Should be printed on the back of bubble gum wrappers as a very moving health warning.
"their attention was cool water
on parched lips, baked chapped
by home life and teacher's gazes"
Do we ever stop needing the attention? I know I don't. I'm learning to validate and give positive attention as much as I can, to as many as I can. It doesn't cost me anything and it pays out dividends. Why didn't I learn this when I was small.
a sad truth...
So sad but true...I've known the truh of this all too well...thankfullly I found my way and am now able to help other young souls find their way.
this was painful brian. its so sad when a child ends up with her baby.
oh, yes, so sad....i like how you wrote it.
Wow! Really powerful. Love the voice.
oh and oh yes...can only imagine that feeling, you write it so well you must know many many troubled youngsters and I admire your courage
A powerful reminder of the perils of those teen years...
wow, as a mom of daughters 14 and 17, this breaks my heart...I trust they will wait until they are really ready. How can we know as parents? We teach, we love and hope they love themselves enough to make wise choices.
Loved it - great rythm and elxoquence :o)
One little wiggle can change everything.
Wonderful writing. To see things through a young person's pain is a help to all of us to remember what it was like to be young and hungry for what we thought was love.
oh boy. And that is just the mentality of some teens. Scary.
I work with too many girls like this.
Great poem, Brian. And the title is worthy of it.
=)
Oh, so sad. Just sat by a gal (17) at a ball game with her baby...she wanted to have fun with her girlfriends but the baby was not happy to be in the chaos...the girl had to leave...she had tears in her eyes...
queen of the moment, and now she may feel as slave to far too many for a lifetime.
i was born to queen of the moment of a different sort. at 14 she married to be queen of herself. at 16 she was queen of the reality of each moment too big.
my prayer for every QUEEN is for redemption and for freedom; to be a REAL princess, His bride for all of time :)
Babies raising babies...good luck with the father.
ouch - this is so sad and happens way too often... but how do you manage to write like you were a 15 year old girl i wonder..you amaze me brian
It's tough enough being an adult single mom. I can't imagine doing it as a teen.
claudia its b/c i am a 15 year old girl...lol...ok not really...smiles.
wow but you sure can speak authentically for somebody who's not :) the gift of a true poet...
Man there are times I feel like I would sell my soul for just a moment or just a taste. I know it doesn't make sense, but ...
Again truth rings loud and clear.
Wow. No other words.
Heart breaking...
That is poignant fact. In India it is even more ironic, since we have child marriages here and girls become moms as young as at 13... :(
Had a patient this week whose 12 year old daughter had been having sex with a man (in his late 20's). The idea of that girl having to become a mother horrifies me.
even better on the second read. brilliant
Awesome.
That really reminds me of a poem I wrote long ago for my creative writing class...same vibe. You catch the way the girls mind works well.
Hi! Brian...
I usually, don't like to read the other commenter's comments until after I read your poem, but I must admit that my eyes did "wander" to the first two comments and all I say is I agree with the first two commenter.
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee ;-D
Now...I have to say that I'am in agreement with all the commenter.
Thanks,
You don't have daughters, do you? You seem to see the female side of things so well; that is a gift that every man NEEDS. Father, Brother, Boyfriend, Husband...
Somethings are just too life changing... and going to back to before; impossible.
This one is simply amazing. That's all I have to say.
"letting some boy wiggle inside your skin might be sin but for a few moments you was queen, adored and wanted --"
Wow...
This is a sad, but true commentary. Also true and even sadder is that the answer to her question is yes, and yes, and yes, and maybe even one more yes. And maybe one of those yesses will produce a little girl who grows up to be queen-for-a-moment just like mama. Breaking out of that cycle of neglect and poverty is so difficult.
how sad that they could never feel queen in any other way, by their skills & imagination & life energy & warmth
A sad tale but all too common.
We got our first call tonight about a pregnant teen needing a place to stay. My heart hurts more than it doesn't lately.
Why can't we seem to teach girls their value and worth?
Post a Comment