Shattered Departure

 

 the name of this poem is shattered departure
the name of this poem will be shattered departure

 why?

why must this departure be shattered?
would it not be a reprise?
a refrain?

what does it rhyme with?

shat-ter-ed
de-par-ture
shi-ny
like ar-mor
sig-ni-fi-cant
oth-er

 …a different name
perhaps

 ballad of the broken hearts… or lonely midnights

 no, that doesn’t seem right

 maybe i’ll choose the title last

the poem begins with a bang, not a whimper
an exclamation
not a question

some transcendental quote
to denote
that, either, or encapsulate some profound, nameless thing

“time
wastes itself
waiting on dreamers

takes itself
seriously
killing free-thinkers”

 …no, that’s terrible
i’m starting over
from SCRATCH this time

maybe it won’t be so bad
this time?

time rhymes with time
but you can’t do that twice
you can’t rhyme time with time
or rhyme with rhyme
time after time
or use the same rhyme twice
otherwise, it’s like
why even rhyme?

 oh, that’s right

you don’t really have to
so, why even rhyme?

 …
okay, i’ve got it

“painful memories
scar my heart
and remind me of you

the shadow of time
eclipses my
perception”

 i’m starting over again

“shattered departure
shattered like ice
fractured reflection
splintered like…”

 …
no

where do i actually start?

“there was nothing
then there was something
a flicker
a spark
then there was everything
then there was you”

 but i don’t need the big bang to precede some stanza about a bad relationship

i don’t need a bang
i need a whimper

“i loved you
but i couldn’t bring myself to forgive you”

but that last part is a lie
that isn’t true at all

so i start over again
look down at what i have, which is nothing

 put the pencil down again

 “the name of this poem is shattered departure”

i pause
i’ll choose the title last

JD- A poem about picking words before picking their meaning, and picking a title before writing the story.  

 

© JD Jurado 2019 all rights reserved.

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