April 20, 2012
-
exhausted
When I was a teenage girl
Mousy, but hiding fire
I watched my neighbor
Well-dressed, well-spoken
In a time when a working woman
Was an oddity
She had two sons
She called me Carrie Anne
I never corrected her
One night her oldest son
Turned on the car in the garage
She still called me Carrie Anne
But she wasn’t the same
npm, bluemooncat enormous thing 23. first experience with death (give or take)
and, yes, i pretty much am that too. so this is what i have. the end. too many people this week talking about death. too many deaths.
Comments (34)
So your middle name is not Anne, then? Hmm.
I like this. Death sucks, but I feel like if you’re going to write about it, it should be impactful and sudden. Like this.
((((hugs)))) Get some rest.
(hugs) Take care, lady.
Yeah, but I made you laugh…didn;t I ?
@Bricker59 - yes you did.
sometimes i guess there just aren’t explanations we can understand. i promise soon i’ll make you laugh, too. <3
Wow. Thanks for sharing this with us.
@curiousdwk - really?
@be_the_rain - you always me smile <3
@leaflesstree - ick
@songoftheheart - @lanney - thanks for the hugs, friends.
Your talent is blossoming. Love this one.
I commented “Thanks for sharing” and you replied, “Really?” As if you weren’t sure why I would say that.
Two reasons. The first is that I consider it a compliment when someone shares with me what is considered a “difficult story”. Difficult stories are those personal stories that have had a large impact on us – like loss, or abuse, or whatever. Too often we feel these difficult stories are too personal, or too difficult to explain to someone else, or whatever. But it is good to share them, but we usually will only share them with someone we trust. So for someone like you to share such a difficult story, is a sign of trust. And so when someone does share one with me, I consider it a compliment and so I will say “Thanks”.
The second reason is that aside from sharing a difficult story, the same can be said for sharing a poem. A poem is very personal and most people are reluctant to share their poems – for a variety of reasons. But there again, when someone does have the courage to share a personal poem, it is a sign of trust that they show in others. And so, to encourage someone in sharing their poems, I will often say “Thanks for sharing” – Thanks for putting in the effort and for sharing it with us and the trust that that act shows.
@curiousdwk - very kind of you to explain when i was what could be considered rude to you. thank you. for reading and valuing and encouraging.
I am 78. Death is no longer a joke. lol
I have lived so long that I have buried most of my friends and enemies.
frank
@ANVRSADDAY - i’ve never considered death a joke. my dad is 81, he goes to a funeral a week. (thank goodness none of them his own)
@vexations - what do you think? i’m happier with it. ty.
That’s sad and hard to deal with and I’m sorry you had to.
@ItsAll_A_LoveWar - i always felt badly for her, but never knew what to say or do.
@promisesunshine - I wouldn’t know what to say or do in that situation either. A hug goes a long way though, so that’s probably what I would have done.
@ItsAll_A_LoveWar - i mowed her grass and took care of the pooch when she was on trips. and i probably smiled at her. golly this was a long time ago. she moved away before i went to college.
@promisesunshine - At least you helped her out as much as you could. I’m sure she appreciated everything you did.
I like your revision. Very provocative poem.
@vexations - thank you. appreciate it.
Beautiful poem. I’m an Anne. My grandmother’s name was Anne. Like Green Gables, with an “e.” A working woman is still an oddity where I live.
@ordinarybutloud - you don’t mean your first name???? i know you don’t. but that was exciting. i liked when she called me that. because my real middle name is ridiculous. my mother thought i was going to be pretty darn stupid. my initials were all the same letter. (and now they are just all the same sound)
@promisesunshine - hahahahaha. My kids all have the same first/last initial. I didn’t think about that when I named them all with the same first letter, duh. Now I have to specify all THREE initials if I want to distinguish them on water bottles and such.
@ordinarybutloud - at least the middle initials are different. my girls have the same middle initials but not first. i’m full of yackity yack today.
@promisesunshine - me too.
Must be the weather. Ours is beautiful.
@ordinarybutloud - overcast here. i have work to do. maybe i’d concentrate better with a beer. (it’s after 5)
@promisesunshine - then by all means, get a beer. I’m about to have a date with Mr. OBL. I plan to drink at least two cocktails before dinner, and then I plan to have wine with dinner, and I plan to make him take me to the bookstore too. Yay!
@ordinarybutloud - yay! date with mr OBL. that’s fabulous. and a bookstore. too.
I don’t get the plot. what happened with the car?
@Nushirox2 - her son turned on the car in the closed garage. it probably wasn’t unintentional.
This was a wow poem!
I gasped.
Just wow at the way you wrote, and the sadness contained within it.
@ZSA_MD - wow. that is some kind of fabulous compliment. thank you!!
Somehow the way you use the woman calling you “Carrie Anne” is what makes this so poignant.