Tuesday, February 11, 2020

When the World Is Dark

I watch her bloodied fist punch and punch the grief-drunk girl in the mirror, while screaming, “Why is my glass always half empty!”
Once upon a more naïve time, I would try to calm her storm, suggest that her glass might find its way to full if she stopped shattering it to pieces every time things got tough. Then she nearly bit my head off, our friendship got stuck between the rocks of my rage and the hardness of her self-hatred, and I felt it proper to lose my know-it-all suit.

I still believe a cooler head might serve her best, but I don’t voice the words. I just watch her and let her see me, hoping actions speak louder than words…

when the world is dark,
I taste the moon on my tongue
and the sun fills me

 
for Poets and Storytellers United (Weekly Scribblings #6:Turn Cliché into Poetry or Prose. Take one cliché, two clichés, three clichés, or as many clichés as you like and turn them into poetry or prose).

52 comments:

  1. Disturbing yet familiar somehow. We all know someone like her?

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    1. That someone is us. We are the other, the one whom we so often point the finger at.

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    2. Magical Mystical Teacher, the projection struggle is certainly real.

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  2. Perhaps, if she stops looking in the mirror long enough, you will serve as an object lesson or timely warning.

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  3. Best not to say anything and let the storm wear itself out. I love the haiku, Magaly.

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  4. love the idea of tasting the moon on one's tongue!

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  5. Oh, my goodness. No better de-cliché-ing of cliché could be found anywhere. Outstanding contribution. Thanks!

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  6. One of your finest ~ ever! Self reflection is dark and so very hard ... sun our salvation.

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  7. Such mirrored reflections - half empty and half full, stuck between a rock and a hard place, speaking in silence. Circumstances that are not so different when we change our perspective, but we must be able to see through someone else's eyes. It amazing what the mirror reveals when we look into it and see someone else standing there. (In my head I saw the speaker viewing herself in the mirror and not recognizing the person standing there... maybe a more wise person looking back on a younger self? But an outside looking in sort of perspective)

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  8. Ah yes, someone determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. May she find moon on her tongue!

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  9. Sometimes we have to navigate our way around another's storm and darkness .. and hope that things will eventually sort themselves out. I love that haiku!💝💝

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  10. I feel for both the subject and their friend. I've seen very good people lash out horribly when they were in pain, and I've seen people who want to help but know it will only be as effective as how they approach it. I hope a bridge can be built and they walk to the other side of this pain together.

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    1. I, too, hope so. Neither role seems to be a great one to be in.

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  11. A bit darker piece, and sadly relatable. And I'm with the speaker here, I believe a cooler head might serve her best.

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  12. There are sad moments that come when we are flashed with the "NO HELP WANTED" sign. We read it but did not know it was not meant for us. That is sooo very hurtful.
    Thank you for the comments, yes I know there are several things that could be inside, but the way I wrote it shouldn't have meant wrong.
    ..

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    1. I didn't think that you meant it to be wrong, Jim. :-)

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  13. Moon gazing has it share of magic, even if only to remind one of the rising sun to come

    Happy Wednesday Magaly

    Much💝love

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  14. I so love this piece. It is real and raw. Sometimes the girl in the mirror just has to break some stuff until she can become her calmer half. Love love love your haiku

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    1. Let us hope she keeps some cheap, breakable things on hand, lol!

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  15. I think if we love ourselves more we would not be like this. Sadly life appears to be a competition for some and then they become jealous of others and start to hate themselves.

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  16. Sometimes words fall on deaf ears, but our presence, our willingness to just be there and listen is what is needed - as frustrating as that may be to have our "know it all suit" ignored!

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  17. The image of a "grief-drunk girl" is disheartening as I know that many of us go through this a times. A cliché is the worst at this time as well.
    Sometimes though... the pain.
    "when the world is dark,/I taste the moon on my tongue" - this is among the best to hold on to. Well done

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    1. I agree--remembering that there is always light in the darkness is a great thing to hold on to.

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  18. This is a heart-wrenching portrait. Emotions do tend to overwhelm us at times.

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  19. I know someone like this. Sigh! ......Draining. Love the write.👍🏽

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  20. Dark poem with the cliches woven into the fabric. That image of tasting the moon on your tongue is so vivid.

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  21. Nice way to use the cliché in an unexpected context. I like the way you extended the metaphor.

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  22. Let's not forget if glass full, so much can be spilt & lost... When the glass is shattered & can't hold anything I guess we need to cup our hands... so sorry I have not kept up with all your glorious darkness & light Ms Wicked... your writing as always slaps the mind & soul with insights, love LOVE xox

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  23. Grief has many stages and is never fully embraced, no matter how many suns warm us or how many moons pass through our soul. A memory filled heart that has been ripped is only mended, never again to be new.

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  24. I was hotheaded when young. Put up with too much for too long, then turned on any source of further pressure and burned all bridges. I have few old friends from church college but otherwise I've survived and become much more patient with age.

    Or at least learned to avoid sources of impatience. I really did go into a building at night, bump into a heavy piece of furniture that had appeared in the walkway without warning, and think "SHE moved THAT? Wow!" But don't let me catch anything like a male trying to bully a female. I'd put a cat in a shelter for that.

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