Thursday, October 9, 2008

under new direction

if i were to spread my wings
somebody would try to clip them
some feathers could grow unevenly
my soaring could be unsteady

if i'll just get up and sing
they'll hear the imperfections
i'll know of my limitations
and let them nullify the essence

so i won't

if i could defend myself
i'd no longer sit so still
they'd quit all the understanding
and charge would replace their pity

if i could undust my faith
i'd sound way too self-assured
the world affronts self-assured
i'd have to prove myself right

so i can't

if i take some breath away
there are always the unimpressed
soever this "good, not best"
and the looks that pierce the fragile

and if i go back to writing
who knows what they'll think of me
god knows if you'll feel a thing
or if i can take the blow

so i don't


so i didn't

5 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

I LOVE the last line.

NathanKP said...

I understand the feeling in this poem. I tend to be a perfectionist, always afraid to do something wrong, or afraid that the results will turn out different from what I expect.

Sometimes when I just have to force myself to start working on a poem or story that I've been thinking about.

NathanKP - Imagination Manifesto

Anonymous said...

I gree with nathan I went for years worrying the same things ..it took steps but I got over it..I still have doubts but I can over ride them...the joy comes from spreading your wings it was never written that every one's flight would be smooth..rach batch of turbulence can be a barrier or a learning experience

Anonymous said...

This is very powerful. . . susan is right the last line is so powerful. . . and so I didn't now should mean. . . but now I will. Very well written.

Ellumbra said...

So eternally grateful - that you did.